RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY
by Charles Spencer
Summary: Two worlds are about to collide as Rebecca Chambers investigates what happened in Silent Hill, and her search for answers will lead her to Cheryl Mason. Together they must face a monstrous evil that wants to bring Hell to Earth. Only love will bring light to the darkness... A Yuri horror-romance, be warned later chapters will have M-rated content!
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, here's the start of a new fanfic, this time my first crossover...it brings together the worlds of two more game series I love, RESIDENT EVIL and SILENT HILL! I was inspired to this by an amazing friend I know on DA named Ygure. As a Yuri (lesbian love!) fan, I fell in love with her art of Heather Mason (Silent Hill) and Rebecca Chambers (Resident Evil) as a couple, and basically this story is because of her!**

**Like my MASS EFFECT fanfic, "Coda", "Judgment Day" will be a love story...and as a fan of both games crossed over in this fiction, I'll strive to give every fan what they want! Well, you'll see! The story opens as Rebecca discovers the mystery of Silent Hill...and she will begin a search for answers that will lead to Heather Mason... This may start out safe and ordinary, but buckle up for a wild, bloody and mature ride in later chapters!**

**Of course, I'll be staying true to the mythology of both games to date...with one possible exception I must address. According to SILENT HILL series canon, in the original game, the 'Good' ending happened in which the character Cybil Bennett died, and Harry Mason escaped with his daughter alone. However, Keiichiro Toyama, the director of the first game, thinks of the 'Good+' ending in which Cybil survived and escaped with Harry and his daughter as the true ending. That's good enough for me!**

**"Resident Evil" and its characters are owned by Capcom, and "Silent Hill" and its characters are owned by Konami!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**CHAPTER ONE:**

**"REBECCA"**

**-1-**

**Friday, August 23, 2013**  
**Washington, D.C.**  
**BIOTERRORISM SECURITY ASSESSMENT ALLIANCE**  
**U.S. DIVISION HEADQUARTERS**

**Rebecca Chambers rushed into Chris Redfield's corner office, her eyes alight with enthusiasm. **She had ream of papers in one slender hand and said, "Chris, we need to talk!"

Special Operations Captain Chris Redfield looked up from his computer behind his desk, more than slightly surprised...and there was an edge of annoyance in his look at Rebecca, too. Still, patient, he asked, "What is it, Rebecca?"

The petite, beautiful young woman who served as a Medical Specialist in the BSAA was full of energy as she reached his desk and proclaimed, "I might be onto something I've been investigating."

Chris frowned. "I don't remember making you a field agent, and I've never given you anything to investigate outside of our research lab."

Rebecca's soft features hardened a little. "You don't have to remind me. I'm talking about something I discovered by accident a few weeks ago on the Internet. I've been using my personal time to investigate since, and I really think I found something important."

"Rebecca..." Chris' tone was impatient at first, but he only had to really look into the earnest lady's eyes to see how serious she was. He sighed and shrugged. "What have you got to share with me?"

Rebecca said, "I need to ask this first. You ever heard of The Order?"

"Never. What is it?"

"It's a stateside religious cult. They were formed in this town called Silent Hill."

"Silent Hill?"

Rebecca enlightened, "A former mining town in Maine. It was a lot like Raccoon City, a resort destination for sightseeing and stuff."

Chris gave Rebecca a look. "You describe Silent Hill in the _past_ tense. Why?"

Rebecca frowned then. "Because the town's dead, Chris. Not dead like...like Raccoon City. It...well, I'm still trying to figure out what happened, but I've still got a lot of information you need to know."

Chris Redfield leaned forward in his chair and rested his forearms on his desk, settling in. "Start from the beginning, Rebecca. Where did you first find out about this Order online?"

"Twitter," Rebecca answered. "Some nights I check random tweets for certain keywords, like the Department of Defense does all the time online for possible terrorist activity." She defensively added, "I've got a lot of free time in my off-hours."

"Go on?"

"Anyway, I told you before how worried I am about religious fanatics out there who wouldn't mind getting ahold of bio-organic weapons. I know we're more focused on rogue nations getting ahold of such things, but - !"

Chris finished for her, "But terrorist zealots are still as much of a priority, Rebecca. That goes without saying."

Rebecca nodded solemnly. "Yeah. This one night, I stumbled across a series of tweets with the hashtag 'churchoftheholyway'. These people are either stupid, arrogant or just plain ignorant to be out in the open, especially the way they talk to each other online. I printed out this exchange to give you an example..." She then offered Chris one of the papers in her hand.

"Okay." Chris took the paper, and began reading it. His frown didn't just return, it deepened. The exchange began between two people:  
_  
'I'm so excited. Everything's going to change soon.'_

_'Keep calm, too much can go wrong. We may be as unworthy as the unbelievers.'_

_'Don't say that. The Order is about to finally bring Paradise to this world. God will reward the faithful and condemn the unfaithful.'_

_'Only if we find the Mother of God. We still have no idea where she is.'_

That was when a third person with the same hashtag interrupted the two:  
_  
'That's enough. Remember where you are. Don't say too much.'  
_  
One of the two was defensive... _'The unfaithful won't care what we're saying.'_

The third person tweeting was harsh then. _'Dammit, be silent! We're too close to Paradise. Call me offline now.'_

Chris finished reading, and he looked at Rebecca. The girl asked, "What do you think?"

He said in a cool tone, "It's enough to get me worried, too. Tell me more about The Order."

The petite lady crossed her slender arms as her lovely face shifted to take a serious set. "There's a lot of information online on this cult, even websites they either created for their followers or to draw in new recruits. From what I've read, they believe that human beings came to exist in this world before their god...well, actually a _goddess_ they refer to simply as God or the Lord of Serpents and Reeds. They wait to see the rebirth of their god and in the process the world will either be destroyed or remade into a Paradise. Actually, according to most of the sources I read, destroyed and remade means the same thing."

Chris growled, "They sound like a bunch of doomsday nuts."

"Pretty much. But the scary thing is they're true believers. They're _serious_ about this crap, Chris."

"And I've heard enough about it. You said they started in Silent Hill?"

"Yep, in the early 1900's, when the town's coal mining industry was in decline. For decades not a lot was heard about them, but that changed in the 1970's. News reports rumoring about a possible religious cult in the town, a lot of unexplained deaths...ominous stuff. Something else interesting: law enforcement agencies outside of Silent Hill suspected the town was a center for the manufacture and trafficking of illegal drugs."

"Like what, cocaine? Heroin?"

"Nothing you've ever heard of. It was something called PTV, a hallucinogen made from a plant unique to the region. It was sold to citizens and tourists, and it was suspected one of the town's hospitals was where the drug was made."

"Was The Order connected to this PTV?"

"It was rumored to, but any and all PTV manufacture came to an end just before the turn of the millenium..." Rebecca Chambers added quietly, "...along with Silent Hill itself."

Chris Redfield asked, "So...what happened to Silent Hill?"

The lady's expression became a mix of troubled and frustrated. "I wish I could tell you for sure. The sources I spoke to had little to no information to give to me. But _something_ happened, and ever since, Silent Hill gradually turned into a ghost town. Almost thirty-thousand people lived there and in a little over a decade between the 70's and 80's, more than half of the populace moved out of town to find new homes. The rest disappeared."

"What?"

Rebecca said with quiet urgency, "I mean literally, no-kidding _disappeared_, Chris. I've gone over every public record there is online for Silent Hill and its surrounding townships, I've made every call to neighboring agencies to make sure my facts were straight, and it's the only way to describe what happened. It was like thousands of people in that town, _entire families_, dropped off the face of the earth. I know it sounds like something out of H.P. Lovecraft, but it's true."

Chris thought about it for a moment. "You mentioned the place had been a mining town. Maybe some kind of disaster happened with the mines? Some kind of gasses or something forced the citizens to leave?"

"That's the official story in the news archives I read, Chris." Rebecca then dropped the papers, which held the facts she memorized and just recounted, on Chris' desk...she then leaned forward and put her hands on top of the desk, looking into Chris' eyes. "But this is the thing: any and all mining operations in the area closed in the first half of the 20th Century, decades before...whatever happened." The light in Rebecca's eyes shifted with knowledge as she added, "And I don't have to tell you there's a world of difference between 'official' and the truth."

Chris Redfield knew exactly what she meant and nodded. "Yeah." Hadn't that happened in Raccoon City, after Chris, Rebecca, Jill and the late Brad Vickers survived the horrors of the forests outside of Raccoon City, of the mansion that was a secret research facility for bio-organic weapons and nightmare viruses? The city government and the Umbrella Corporation sought to bury the truth with their 'official' version of events...before all Hell broke loose.

"There have been disappearances since...either tourists or those known to have been traveling through Silent Hill at the time they disappeared. Worse, the town right next door, Shepherd's Glen, had the exact same thing happen. Just in 2003, they were celebrating their 150th Anniversary, and a few years later...they were a ghost town, too. Even more people died or just plain disappeared. One other thing: both towns have been blanketed by this thick, persistent fog that won't go away."

Chris arched an eyebrow in response. "What, they're in a fog all the time?"

"Weather experts who have reported this phenomenon don't understand it. But Silent Hill has been experiencing fog that literally hasn't gone away, no matter what the season, since the late 1970's...and then it reached out to cover Sheperd's Glen in 2003. I'm not sure how important that is, or even if it's connected to everything else I told you." Rebecca said with worry, "Bottom line, I've got to wonder how long it'll be before another town is virtually wiped off the map."

Chris asked, "Could The Order be responsible?"

Rebecca shrugged. "It's possible, but it's just as likely they were victims of what happened to Silent Hill, too. But we do know some of this cult are alive, they're communicating online, maybe recruiting more lunatics on the fringe...and they've got something in motion. I really, really have a bad feeling about this, Chris."

Chris thought for a moment, but his expression was one of unease, too. "I'm with you, Rebecca. I'm just surprised more people don't know about this. From everything you're saying, we're talking about two disasters worse than 9-11! Unfortunately, there isn't much to go on to conduct a formal investigation. Hell, no bio-terrorism seems to be involved, so this is out of our bounds anyway - !"

Rebecca quickly countered, "Is it? Silent Hill and Raccoon City might as well be sister cities. Both had a lot of dirty dealings going on behind the scenes...and both are dead. Do you want to wait to see if history repeats itself? Or maybe something even worse will happen because of this Order? And I've got to stress we have no idea what exactly happened that killed both of those towns...bio-terrorism is as likely a cause as not!" Rebecca then said, "I wish to request two weeks' leave so I can continue an informal investigation. I've discovered there are a few people I can talk to who might shed some light on what happened. No one's time or money will be wasted but my own, okay?" Chris frowned again, unsure...but Rebecca's voice and gaze pleaded to him, "I know this might be better suited for another agency to investigate, but I want this, Chris. Please."

Chris was reluctant. "Rebecca..."

"Please, Chris, I'm only asking for two weeks! If I don't come across anything worth worrying about, then that's it. I'll be back to business as usual in our labs. Okay?"

Chris Redfield stared at Rebecca and hoped he wouldn't regret this...still, after everything the lady shared with him... "All right, and I'm holding you to that. Who do you plan on talking to first?"

Clearly grateful, Rebecca Chambers smiled and nodded. She then said, "A police captain named Cybil Bennett. She works not far away from Silent Hill in a town called Brahms."  
**  
-2-**

**Two days later**  
**Brahms, Maine**

Rebecca found herself in another corner office...in this case, on the second floor of the Brahms Police Department early on a peaceful Sunday afternoon.

In her fifties, Cybil Bennett had reached the middle of a long, full life. She was an athletic beauty in her police uniform who only had crow's feet at the corners of her eyes and the beginnings of streaks of gray in her blonde hair that betrayed her age. The captain was also a married mother of two teenaged daughters, a role that had to make her life as interesting as police work. Rebecca liked Cybil immediately after she was admitted into her office. Cybil began back to her desk after they shook hands in greeting...the police officer said, "I'm still not clear on how I can help you, Agent Chambers. I've never lived in Silent Hill."

Rebecca almost felt like she should have been standing at attention in front of the officer. She asked cheerfully, "But you did pass through the town one night when you were still a motorcycle cop...this would have been back in 1983?"

Cybil paused for a moment and turned to look at the girl. "Yes?"

Rebecca recounted, from information she already knew well on her iPhone's screen, which she glanced to at random moments as they talked: "You were on patrol one night, and then you disappeared for a few days. Your department began a search of the region hoping to find you. Then one morning, you appeared again here in Brahms like nothing happened. According to the stories I read, you had an accident with your motorcycle - "

Cybil finished coolly, "And because the town was so foggy, I couldn't find my way out right away." She gave Rebecca a look. "So what?"

"So...from what I know officially, you were sent to Silent Hill because Brahms P.D. lost contact with the police there. What did you find?"

"You obviously already know a lot. You must know the answer, too."

Rebecca Chambers nodded. "Yeah..._officially_, Silent Hill lost its city government. Along with its police and emergency agencies, its hospitals, public utilities and so on. But they never let anyone else know their town was basically dying."

Cybil said quietly, "And it had to take my visiting to find out it was already dead."

Silence for a moment...and then Rebecca said, "One of the few things I don't know is this. Captain...what happened in Silent Hill?"

For a moment, Cybil Bennett didn't speak...but the look in her eyes said so much. Cybil answered, with an expression of forced neutrality, "A lot of things. Things I don't want to think about."

Rebecca gently asked, "Can I ask if you'd talk about those things?"

The officer's lips drew tight into a thin line...the woman was almost painfully uncomfortable. "You can ask...but you won't get an answer."

Rebecca realized she was getting nowhere...but... "Please don't be angry if I ask this...but did something happen to you?"

Cybil looked at Rebecca again, and she gave an honest smile. "If anything did happen to me, I healed from it a long time ago." The woman lost her smile as quickly as she found it when she said, "All I can tell you, Agent - " She stopped herself, and her tone became much softer. "Rebecca...Silent Hill died, then Shepherd's Glen died, and maybe they deserved to. There's no point in digging up facts about something no one could stop...there's no reason asking about something that can't be changed."

Steel could be felt in Rebecca's voice as her expression became determined. "Actually, I've got one good reason. I don't want another Silent Hill to happen!" They stared at each other for a beat...one who wanted answers looked at the other who wouldn't (or couldn't?) give them. Rebecca asked softly, "You really have nothing to say, Captain?"

Cybil Bennett deliberately turned from Rebecca to move to one of her office windows...she looked outside at the bright August day. "I can tell you this. The people responsible for what happened to Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen won't trouble anyone else. According to my best information, they're as dead as those towns."

Rebecca's eyes examined Cybil. "You're talking about The Order?"

"Yes."

Rebecca looked down solemnly. "I hope you're right, Captain...for all our sakes." She looked up at Cybil again and said, "I needed to ask about something else."

Cybil turned to her again. "Yes?"

"That morning you returned to Brahms, a man and his infant daughter were with you. Harry Mason and Cheryl Mason, right?"

Cybil nodded. "That's right."

Rebecca smiled. "Okay. I still need to see them to get all my facts straight..."

Cybil quickly said, "You can't."

Rebecca seemed to be caught off her guard. "E-excuse me?"

Cybil's expression softened. "I mean as far as Harry Mason goes, you can't talk to him. He died over ten years ago."

Rebecca's expression spoke volumes about how awkward she felt. "Oh. Did you know Harry Mason well?" Cybil looked down as she remembered, and that was all Rebecca needed to know. "I'm truly sorry, Captain."

The captain smiled a little and said, "Call me Cybil, Rebecca."

Rebecca offered gently, "I'm sorry, Cybil. Um, do you know anything about how he died?"

"No, just that it happened during a random home invasion. It was when Cheryl was 17 years old, and it broke her heart."

Rebecca nodded, her eyes somber. She said softly, "I can't even imagine how she must have felt. I understand her first name was changed from Cheryl to Heather years before that?"

"Don't ask me why she did that, either. Chances are it was because of some kind of phase she was going through."

Rebecca didn't have to glance at her iPhone again as she said, her eyes curious, "Actually, from what I understand, Harry killed a man in self-defense and had to move to another town...then _he_ changed Cheryl's name to Heather. Maybe to protect her?"

Cybil stared at Rebecca, surprised. The young agent's acting ignorant about Harry Mason's history, especially that he died, was just that: an act to test the waters with her. It seemed the young lady knew much, much more than expected before she arrived here. "I..."

Rebecca mused, "I can't help but wonder if Harry Mason's murder and his killing a man in self-defense were connected, you know?"

Cybil looked at Rebecca with a new level of respect as she conceded, "I've thought of that myself, Rebecca. As far as I was able to find out, the incidents weren't connected."

"If they were, I'd have to wonder what kind of enemies Harry had. Anyway, Cheryl should be as old as I am now. I mean, she was a newborn when you met her and Harry, right?"

"Yeah."

Rebecca formed a frown on her lips again. "Or is there a Cheryl out there _older_ than I am?"

Cybil frowned back. "Why do you ask?"

"I've taken an in-depth look into Harry Mason's history...sorry, you must have figured that out by now...and I found something strange. Harry had a daughter named Cheryl with his late wife, Josie."

"Yes?"

"Well, that was in 1977, seven years before you met her and her father."

"There must be some mistake, Rebecca."

Rebecca smiled a little as she shook her head. "Mm-mmm. I triple-checked to make sure. I wouldn't even be bringing it up if it wasn't such a strange inconsistency. I understand you helped Harry draw up a new birth certificate for Cheryl at a local hospital after you returned from Silent Hill."

On-edge, Cybil said impatiently, "He'd lost the original birth certificate for Cheryl accidentally. I still don't see the relevance."

Rebecca gave Cybil a look then. "Um, I'm sorry, but you must be blind not to see." She sure as hell didn't need the intelligence of a prodigy who graduated from college at the age of 18 to figure it out, Rebecca thought. "Records say that Harry Mason had two daughters, one in 1977 and the other in 1983...and _both_ of them were named Cheryl."

Cybil tried to offer a casual smile and began, "That's a bit silly, Rebecca - "

Rebecca Chambers quickly cut Cybil off: "Not if something happened to his older daughter." Her eyes examined the officer. "_Did_ something happen? Maybe in Silent Hill? Is that where his new daughter came from? And who was her _mother?_" Rebecca spread her hands and said, her beautiful expression imploring, "Please tell me you understand why I feel the need to ask such questions!"

It was Cybil who was truly off her guard then. But her eyes became solemn as she looked at the bio-terrorist agent because she did understand the girl's curiosity. She knew, just looking into Rebecca's eyes, the girl was here for only the very best of reasons. Cybil Bennett finally said, "Rebecca...it isn't necessary to ask those questions. The discrepancies you're talking about must be the result of some clerical errors. Mistakes with red tape have happened before, and will until the end of time...but I _promise_ I'm telling you the truth when I say this. When I met Harry Mason in Silent Hill, he was a truly decent man and loving father. He adored his daughter and would have given anything for her, and I doubt that changed before the day he died. I also met Cheryl, the _only_ child Harry ever had...and while I never met her mother, I can guarantee that when we traveled from Silent Hill to Brahms, she was a baby girl."

Instinctively, Rebecca felt Cybil was telling the truth...but for whatever reason, she insisted on keeping so much secret.

The BSAA agent thought, _What the hell happened that would make people want to forget it...and not even_ speak _of it?_  
**  
-3-  
**  
Later that afternoon, when Rebecca visited and interviewed those she needed to see next who were known to be connected to Silent Hill or Shepherd's Glen, the murky picture of what happened became only slightly clearer.

Rebecca also began to understand why no one wanted to talk about the disasters - it was the most fitting word - that befell two New England towns.

As she spoke to Alex Shepherd and his wife, Elle Shepherd, Rebecca couldn't have imagined how anyone could be touched more profoundly by what could only be called true, monstrous evil...that would change, and very soon, when the agent learned the _real_ meaning of evil. (But that will come later, dear reader, so best not to get ahead of ourselves.) Alex and Elle were good and decent people, like Cybil, but different from the police captain in the sense that they seemed to have nothing to hide...at first. Their openness about what they went through in Shepherd's Glen and then Silent Hill might even have served to be an agent toward helping them heal. Heaven knew that for the longest time, both Alex and Elle lived in the midst of a nightmarish conspiracy in which their own families played pivotal roles...and Rebecca Chambers couldn't help but feel her blood chill as she listened to their story.

It was their families and two others who migrated from Silent Hill to establish Shepherd's Glen over a century and a half ago...yet those founding families, like many of the civic leaders of Silent Hill, were part of The Order, followers of The Church of the Holy Way. They were of an amoral faith that believed not in the absolutes of good and evil, but a dark and brutal view of order and chaos. Both towns, even if this couple told Rebecca a part of the truth, held histories vile beyond any decent person's imagining, and all for the belief of their strange, terrible 'God'. The Order's faith demanded sacrifice in both towns...indeed, in 2003, the four families were each required to sacrifice one of their children so they wouldn't fall victim to what destroyed Silent Hill. Three of the four families made those sacrifices...

...but then, something no one expected to happen did. Alex Shepherd's brother Joshua died in an accident not long before Alex was fated to be sacrificed by his parents. Alex was forcibly taken away to a mental institution far from town, and the unspeakable pact was broken. Whatever happened in Silent Hill took hold of Shepherd's Glen...many left out of fear, and those who stayed who wouldn't follow The Order's dictates were killed. Just as many completely disappeared, never to be seen again, and Rebecca truly realized then that they were also dead.

Like Silent Hill, thousands of people in its neighboring town were simply...gone.

A few hundred citizens, perhaps less, remained when Alex escaped the institution and returned to Shepherd's Glen. Even though he was temporarily delusional, Alex found Elle, who he'd known since their childhood. Together they discovered the terrible truth of their hometown and its link to Silent Hill, which had been kept secret from them all their lives. But The Order was amoral and showed no mercy...Alex's parents were killed as his mental state returned to normal. Elle's mother, Judge Margaret Holloway, confined her and Alex and was going to kill them both before Alex killed her in self-defense. Elle's father had long been very different from Margaret...years before, he was horrified to know the depths of the evil he became a part of after he married her, and he was frightened by the overwhelming influence and power of The Order in his town. When later combined with the knowledge he'd have to sacrifice one of his beloved children, it was all too much for him to bear. He withdrew into himself completely and became a bedridden, virtually non-responsive catatonic under the care of a Brahms doctor. Ultimately, Alex concluded the story by saying he was forced to kill most of its followers himself so that he and Elle could escape Silent Hill as the rest destroyed themselves.

_My_ god, Rebecca thought with horror, _all of this makes what happened in Waco and Jonestown look like PTA meetings!_

There was a happy ending to the story, at least for the couple she interviewed. Alex and Elle married a year later...she became a police officer and he took courses online to become an electrician. The home they made for each other was a truly comfortable one, and they both looked after Elle's father during their off-hours at home; he was slowly but steadily showing signs of improvement in the decade since his daughter escaped Shepherd's Glen. More than that, Elle was two months pregnant...she already looked forward to waddling around while enforcing the law in her pregnancy like Frances McDormand in _Fargo_.

Rebecca Chambers was truly happy for them both, but there were still a few blanks she needed filled. As the couple sat together on a loveseat holding hands in their living room, she was seated across from them on a comforter. Rebecca said, "I really, really appreciate you both telling me so much, but there's stuff I'm still not clear on. You said the same thing that happened to Silent Hill reached Shepherd's Glen, but you never said exactly what happened. I mean, how could so many people die and disappear in such a short time? And why is it, as far as I can tell, no one is in any hurry to go back to either of those towns?" She raised her eyebrows.

The couple suddenly looked unsure...they looked from Rebecca to each other, as if they suddenly didn't know what to say.

Rebecca frowned. "What?" She suddenly thought, _Uh-oh, I think I ran into a wall again..._

Alex Shepherd finally looked back at Rebecca and said quietly, "Uh...Agent Chambers..."

She gently offered, "Rebecca, please."

Alex nodded. "Rebecca...we meant what we said when we'd tell you everything we knew, but..." He was silent a beat, trying to find the right words. Then: "...but it isn't that simple. For most who live anywhere near Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen, the subjects of those towns are sensitive. Knowing evil lived so close to you, you'd feel afraid, you'd wish like hell it never happened. And you wouldn't want to talk about it. If you never talk about it, never acknowledge it, then it'll go away. It'll be forgotten." And no one else would hear of what so many wanted to forget...that was why those disasters were never national news.

Elle offered quietly, "We were too close to what happened, so it's not like we can live in denial. And we'll never forget it, no matter how hard we try." The pretty blonde looked down sadly, and her husband gently squeezed her hand.

Alex finally said, "Even for all of that, you've got to understand there are still some things we can't talk about. Things that...haunt us. And if we told you about those things, to be blunt, you'd never believe us."

Rebecca's expression was soft. "Hey, remember what I told you about myself not long ago? Remember I lived in Raccoon City. I've fought zombies, so I've got an open mind about a lot of things!"

Alex said solemnly, cryptically, "Rebecca...you may be ready to see the Easter Bunny walk through our door, but that wouldn't help."

Elle said, "Telling you about what we've seen won't help, either. It hasn't helped us. Some nights we remember, and we hold each other in bed, unable to sleep."

Rebecca couldn't just settle for that. "I guess I'll have to go to Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen for myself and see - !"

Elle almost shouted then, "Don't do that!"

Alex said, with clear concern for Rebecca, "Listen to us, please! Don't even say that offhand! Those are places you don't want to go!"

With a burst of impatience, Rebecca Chambers almost shouted, "Why? You've got to understand I'm not just here out of curiosity! I need to know what happened!"

Elle spoke then with a measured voice, her expression clearly concerned for Rebecca: "All you need to know is...there is so much _wrong_ with those places now. Especially Silent Hill. It may never be a safe place for anyone to live ever again."

Rebecca shook her head. "But why? What are we talking about? How did so many die? Are we talking about a virus? Some kind of chemicals that drifted from Silent Hill to Shepherd's Glen? What did The Order _do?_"

Alex frowned and said, "Something worse than any of those things...something a lot worse."

Elle's concern for the agent didn't ease for a moment. "Please...I understand you don't want what brought an end to Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen to happen to anyone else. You're so beautiful for that. But listen. If you're to believe in anything we say to you, believe this. _It isn't safe for you or anyone to go there._ If you need to know so badly, simply stop at the city limits of either of those towns. Stop before you begin to enter that damned fog. Even then, you may simply feel how wrong those places are."

Alex added, "Please believe that, Rebecca. Please trust in us to not go in there if you do feel it."

Rebecca was startled by how scared they were...for _her_. Taken aback, she managed, "O-okay. But that isn't as important as my needing to know this. Are you both sure The Order is gone? That they're all dead?"

Alex nodded, his eyes cool in their gaze. "Absolutely, Rebecca. If any of them are still alive, we wouldn't know." Unfortunately, that didn't help Rebecca at all, knowing what she knew.

Elle gave Rebecca a thoughtful gaze and said, "You're not the first one to ask us about The Order, you know?"

Just like that, the agent focused on Elle. "Really?"

"Yeah, that's right," Alex Shepherd said, suddenly reminded. "Less than a year ago, this girl visited us. She had as many questions about The Order as you did." He thought back. "A really pretty girl, about your age...blonde...really sad eyes. We weren't surprised she got away from Silent Hill, too. We could only tell her everything we told you."

Rebecca Chambers sat forward reflexively. "Did she say what her name was?"

Elle Shepherd said, "Only her first name. Heather."

Rebecca thought, _Heather as in Heather_ Mason?

Cheryl Mason?

That made Rebecca want to reach her next destination faster than ever...and she was there the next day, to talk to the last person she needed to.

A man who, according to her facts, knew Harry Mason's daughter.  
**  
-4-**

**One day later**  
**Humphrey, Maine**

The humble office of Douglas Cartland, Private Detective. After letting the pretty young lady in, he felt the need to say, "You don't look like an anti-terrorist agent."

Rebecca turned to the former police officer who was pushing 70 years of age and smiled. She got that all of the time. She responded, only half-joking, "And you don't look too much like a private eye."

Douglas grinned. "_Touche_, kiddo."

Rebecca quickly lost her smile. "I'm not a kid, though. Ever heard of Raccoon City?"

"You're kidding, right? Everybody's heard of that place." He did a double-take at the girl. "What, did you live there before...?"

Her expression was serious as she nodded...as she said, "And I was one of the few who got out alive before it was destroyed."

Douglas drew closer to Rebecca, who stood in the center of his office. His gaze was one of solemn respect. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I always thought that was a funny name for a place. Raccoon City."

Rebecca shrugged. "What can I say? The folks who founded the city ran into lots of raccoons." In a softer tone, she said, "Now nothing lives there." And nothing was likely to live there for a very, very long time.

Douglas finally moved past Rebecca and sat behind his desk. Casual, he said, "So you wanna know about Cheryl Mason, huh. Is she in trouble?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No. I just want to talk to her."

The man's eyes narrowed a little, probing. "Why?"

"Silent Hill. I know it's a ghost town now, most of its residents gone. If Cheryl knows anything about what The Order did to make that happen, she could save a lot of lives. She could keep it from happening again."

Douglas settled back in his chair. He said quietly, "You oughtta leave her alone, honey."

Rebecca put her hands on her slender hips. "My turn to ask. Why?"

"She's had enough bad things happen to her. Half those things I still have trouble believing. Still keeps me awake some nights."

Rebecca suddenly felt troubled...the man had the same look in his eyes Cybil had. The same look in his eyes Alex and Elle had. "I understand you've known Cheryl for a long time...since about the time her father died?"

Douglas gave her a level gaze. "Uh-huh."

"That was in the year 2000, and her legal name was still changed to Heather then." She didn't bother to get out her iPhone this time to double-check her information...by this time, she knew most all of what she'd read by heart. "A couple of nights after Harry Mason died, she helped admit you to the hospital for a broken leg. How did that happen?"

Douglas Cartland answered, "A gorilla fell on me."

Rebecca smiled a little. "For real?"

"That's what I told the doctors. Cheryl was kind enough to help me out, and we've been friends since."

This guy was going to give her trouble, Rebecca realized. "According to what I researched, Cheryl drove you to the hospital from Silent Hill."

He nodded. "They got big gorillas there."

"I'll bet. I understand that Cheryl was briefly considered a suspect in the murder of her father?"

"She didn't do it, kid."

"Yeah, no charges were ever filed. Why?"

"Because Cheryl loved her dad, and he loved her. She wouldn't have done something like that in a million years. End of story." Douglas started to look agitated.

Rebecca decided to switch gears. "Okay, let me ask something else about Cheryl. She was born in Silent Hill in 1983, but she has no birth mother listed - "

"So what?"

"So...how is a child born without her mother's name on her birth certificate?"

"It was a blank left unfilled. Happens all the time."

"Uh-huh." Rebecca began to lose her patience...tension had built in the office between her and Douglas. "You know, it would be nice if you decided to cooperate with me, so start anytime! How did you meet Cheryl at the time of her father's death? Why did you both go to Silent Hill?"

Douglas shook his head slowly. "Take my advice, honey. Leave Cheryl Mason alone. Leave _me_ alone."

Rebecca suddenly snapped, "I can't do that! Now you listen - !"

Just like that, Douglas leaned forward and jabbed a finger at Rebecca as he shouted, "No, YOU shut that pretty mouth of yours and listen to ME!" Stunned, Rebecca could only look at Douglas, who clearly regretted that outburst. Then...the old man's expression drained to become tired, and that weariness was mixed with a terrible shame. The P.I. looked down and finally said, "The last time someone wanted to find Cheryl, they came to me, too. They offered good money, and I didn't cover all the bases. I didn't care if they were being honest about why they wanted to find her. Well, I found Cheryl and her dad." He looked up at the girl, and his eyes were haunted in their expression. "And you know what happened? The crazy bastards murdered her father and wanted her for things...things that keep me awake at night, like I said."

Rebecca Chambers realized how much he wanted to protect Cheryl...she took a step toward his desk, her expression soft. "Mister Cartland, I'm not here to hurt Cheryl, I _promise_ you. I just want to talk to her, to understand." Her eyes hardened with resolve as she told him, "There are members of The Order still alive out there. I have reason to believe they're going to do something terrible. I don't know if it can be called any form of terrorism, but I do know two towns are dead because of them. You said they wanted her thirteen years ago. Chances are they might still want her now, and I know she's been asking about them, like I have. Please believe me when I say I want to help Cheryl and, if she wants, I will do everything I can to protect her."

Douglas frowned, unsure. "Kid..."

Rebecca said with force, "Cover all the bases!" She dipped into her purse and pulled out a card, which she offered to Douglas. "This is a hotline number right to Chris Redfield, my commanding officer! He'll confirm that I'm conducting an informal investigation of what happened in Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen! If you want proof of my honesty, this is it!"

Douglas looked at her for a long moment before he finally said, "Give me that number." She did, and he dialed the number on his phone. It took a few minutes to talk to Chris Redfield, who confirmed all Rebecca said.

Douglas Cartland hung up the phone, and he looked up at Rebecca. There was a new light in his eyes. "You wanna know more about Cheryl and Silent Hill. Okay. I'll tell you what I can, and I'll only tell you the things I know you'll believe. If you want to know everything, Cheryl's the best person to tell you."

Rebecca gave him a confident look. "Mister Cartland, you're not the first one to tell me I wouldn't believe what they couldn't share with me. I have an open mind about lots of things."

"Uh-huh. Having an open mind is one thing. It's another to _want_ to believe what you're told. Take my word for it: you won't want to believe."

Rebecca sighed heavily. "That's your choice, sir, but rest assured. I've seen my fair share of things that keep _me_ awake some nights."

Douglas smiled then. "I hear you...but even that's no help." The old man began to tell Rebecca what he knew, but only the things he had no doubt she'd believe.

And those things was frightening enough...Rebecca looked at him with wide eyes and said softly, "If that's true...if even half of what Cheryl told you was true...! My god, why don't more people know about Silent Hill?" She asked that even after all that Alex and Elle told her.

Douglas offered, "Remember that old saying, ignornace is bliss? People have an instinct for turning a blind eye to things they don't wanna know about. It's a kind of defense mechanism, you know? But for real, I think there's something in Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen that keeps them from from being seen...being known. It's like Silent Hill doesn't belong in our world anymore, but...someplace else."

The lady shook her head. "I don't know what to think. But I know The Order truly believes in their insane faith, and I don't doubt they still want Cheryl. They really think of her as this...Mother of God. If they still want to hurt her, to...use her, I will do everything I can to help her find The Order and stop them. Please, can you tell me where she is now?"

Douglas was reluctant to answer. "Kid, she didn't want me to help her, and she trusts me! She doesn't want what happened to her dad to happen to me or anyone else."

Rebecca said earnestly, "I'll take that chance if it means helping her and keeping her safe. I'm not just stubborn, but I'm pretty resourceful when I have to be."

"Yeah, those sound like famous last words." He gave her a thoughtful look. "But I believe you. There's something about you...I really believe you." He was silent for a deliberate beat, and then he told her. "You're right that Cheryl's been looking for those bastards. She knows they're out there, too. I've been trying to help by long distance, researching for her, making contacts with my friends in law enforcement, things like that. She's caught onto a lead you may not know about."

Rebecca asked, "What lead?"

"Hold on," Douglas grunted as he got out of his chair and went to one of his file cabinets set against a wall. He opened the top cabinet marked ACTIVE, and he quickly pulled out a file. He got out a pair of glasses from his suit jacket pocket and grumbled, "I hate being old." He then opened the file and looked at it for a beat. "Okay. Cheryl wanted to know if anyone of any importance ever left Silent Hill before things went to hell there, since some of the most powerful people in town also belonged to The Order. There was this one guy...a doctor by the name of Burton Young."

Rebecca nodded. "Go on?"

"This Doctor Young was real close to another doctor in Silent Hill, Michael Kaufmann. Hell, those guys went to medical school together. In the 1970's, Kaufmann was a director of medical staff at Alchemilla Hospital, and Young was one of his most immediate subordinates. At the same time, a local drug trade started involving PTV. Ever heard of it?"

"Yeah!" Rebecca felt a sudden excitement.

He gave her a look. "Then you might know about the rumors that Alchemilla was making the drug, too. Police outside of Silent Hill were starting to look at Kaufmann and anyone he knew very closely. Anyhow, in 1975, Doctor Young left Alchemilla and Silent Hill. Nobody knew why. He just left before...well, before a lot of other crap happened in that damn town."

"Where is Doctor Young now?"

"It took a lot of calls, but I finally got word last week. Burton Young moved to another state, and he's currently administrator of a hospital in this town called Black Falls. That's where Cheryl is now."

Rebecca nodded enthusiastically. "Okay. I need all the information you have!"

Douglas Cartland said, "You got it, but I need to tell you again. Cheryl won't want any help. She'd rather check into this guy by herself."

Rebecca frowned. "No, sir. If she's right about Doctor Young, then alone is the last thing Cheryl should be."  
**  
-5-**

**Two days afterward**  
**Silent Hill, Maine**

Rebecca Chambers arrived at the town limits on her green sports cycle and stopped. She'd brought the bike to a halt just before a dirty, weathered sign that proclaimed "Welcome to Silent Hill" and stood next to the two-lane blacktop. Rebecca considered the sign for a moment. It didn't feel in any way welcoming, and neither did the dense fog that shrouded everything in sight before her. Outside of town, it was a pleasant summer's day, the forested hills around the woman on her motorcycle alive and green under the blue sky...

...but just ahead of her, the fog that literally stopped at the border of Silent Hill was something else entirely. The road ahead seemed to fade away in the distance into the gray mist. Rebecca recalled what she'd been told before by those who escaped this town, and she began to understand what they meant. It really was like Silent Hill wasn't a part of this world anymore, that it wasn't just blanketed by this fog, it was gone. She had the thought that driving into the fog might mean driving into another world, and it didn't strike her as silly or fanciful in any way. Truly being here, she understood why there was no activity at all on this road besides her.

Those who had been touched by this place said it was a town better left for dead.

Rebecca felt this unearthly cold emanate from the gray in front of her, and she shuddered involuntarily.

There was a survival instinct in Rebecca that had been a part of her ever since the nightmarish incidents that took place in Raccoon Forest, and then the city that shared its name ceased to exist. Most wouldn't be as aware of things as Rebecca was because of the horrors created by the Umbrella Corporation. It was the same kind of instinct that soldiers earned from the harsh and unforgiving experience of combat in one battle after another.

That instinct spoke to Rebecca as she stared into Silent Hill's fog. As she sat astride her cycle, that voice became more and more urgent as moments passed. The chill in her blood increased as she thought, _No wonder people want to forget this place. This...really is wrong. If I go in there, will I be able to leave?_

The BSAA agent felt the urge to giggle after she thought that...it was something a child would think...but the urge faded away fast.

Rebecca somehow knew then that she wouldn't find any answers here if she did cross the very visible border to Silent Hill. And if the beautiful survivor did find anything, chances were it was something she wouldn't have wanted to find. It wouldn't have helped her in any way to find the answers she needed to find.  
_  
I must find The Order, but they wouldn't be here anymore. I have to find the girl looking for them._

_I need to find Cheryl._

Rebecca Chambers never knew she made one of the wisest decisions of her life by backing her cycle up a few steps from Silent Hill's border, making a quick u-turn, and roaring away the way she came.

The survivor had no idea she still set her course to a destination that was more horrifying than anything she could have imagined.

But her destiny would be a wondrous one, too...because this isn't just a story of survival, of horror, and of nightmare evils that would threaten to change the world.

This is, first and foremost, a love story.

**TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, here's the second part of what is already shaping up to be a huge fanfic, my crossover of the worlds of RESIDENT EVIL and SILENT HILL! In this chapter, Rebecca Chambers finally meets Cheryl Mason as the shadows of The Order and far, FAR worse loom somewhere unseen. Will what happened in Silent Hill repeat itself in a new town?**

**I can only say you're on a rollercoaster to Hell, dear readers, and you just started rolling down the bloody tracks...hope you enjoy the ride! ^_^**

**Again, RESIDENT EVIL and its characters owned by Capcom, and SILENT HILL and its characters owned by Konami! "Heart and Soul" is the property of Chrysalis and EMI Records, "Southern Cross" is the property of Atlantic Records, and "Poker Face" is the property of Cherrytree and Interscope Records!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**CHAPTER TWO:**

**"CHERYL"**

**-1-**

**Thursday, August 29, 2013**  
**Black Falls, Vermont**

**About nine miles south of the state capitol of Montpelier, just off Interstate 89 and to the east of the Green Mountains, was the town of Black Falls. **It was named after the waterfall in close proximity to the town, a natural landmark so named because its cascading waters were shaded all year long by trees. Black Falls was close to being the geographic center of Vermont, a state known for its natural wonders, maple syrup, and where tourists could indulge their sweet tooths at the main factory of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream not far from Burlington, Vermont's largest city.

Black Falls was almost as populous as Burlington...just over 20,000 people lived here year-round, but it couldn't be called a tourist destination. Yes, mountaineers and hikers (both experts and those who wanted to be) passed through on their way to the nearby range of the Green Mountains, but the town was a mostly quiet place tucked away in the vast green forests of Vermont, and its citizens didn't mind that a bit. Local pride was high here along with classic New England tradition...they were a welcoming yet tight-knit community that kept to themselves. Summers were truly prosaic, but winters...well, as locals say, it gets too cold to snow. Literally.

As August was drawing to a close, there was high anticipation in the air. Just to the south of Black Falls was Clearwater Stream (where one could find the town's namesake waterfall), but simply taking the covered King's Bridge across it would lead one to the nearby County Fairgrounds. It was bustling with activity, almost ready for the weekend-long County Fair held every year before Labor Day to mark the winding down of summer.

It was anticipated by community leaders across the county that the fair would draw in record crowds starting Friday.

This was how things were when Rebecca Chambers traveled from the north on I-89, took the exit, and entered Black Falls. It was the early evening. Shadow had begun to overwhelm everything as the sun set beyond the Green Mountains.  
**  
-2-  
**  
Rebecca Chambers was keenly aware her sports cycle was one of the loudest things in town after she entered its border, and felt more than a little embarrassed because of it. She'd called Chris Redfield to give him an update and let him know she was about to reach the town, and he cautioned, "Okay, but remember you have no idea what you're walking into. Keep a low profile!" Rebecca thought, _Good grief, does_ every _New England town have to be so quiet?_

The BSAA Agent hoped Douglas Cartland was right when he told her how to find Cheryl Mason after he told her what kind of car Cheryl was driving and its license plate number. Douglas had counseled Cheryl on how to get the most information on the sly about a small town...and he enlightened Rebecca, as well: "I told Cheryl if she wants to plug into the local grapevine easy without drawing attention, the first and best place to go is a town's bar. Just as long as she's buying a drink and no one tries to hit on her, all she needs to do is keep her ears open." Honestly, Rebecca couldn't argue with that kind of logic...but then, she always did a Google search if she wanted to know more about a place. That was what she did at a hotel she stayed in last night on her way to Black Falls to find out more about the town.

Rebecca also did a search on Burton Young, and didn't get much. The man was still active as a doctor - even at the age of 72 - alongside his duties as Administrator of Wyler Community Hospital in Black Falls. He'd moved into town in 1976, one year after he left Silent Hill, Maine, and in the decades since he became as beloved a community leader as one could imagine. Local articles she found online had nothing but praise for Young, all but canonizing him as perhaps the most trusted and respected man in Black Falls. But knowing what she did about his association with Philip Kaufmann, a suspected drug dealer and manufacturer - and perhaps to The Order, a beyond-the-fringe cult that played a role in the destruction of two towns - Rebecca had to wonder how much of that praise for Burton Young was justified, or if it was smoke and mirrors to hide darker, more terrible truths about him.

Only a block down the main drag of the town, Kubrick Street, Rebecca saw a bar ahead to her left...she pulled into its lot, which was already nearly full of cars and pickup trucks. She scanned the lot, not so much looking for a parking space as something much more important. Then she saw it, and felt the urge to giggle...she felt like she just won a prize.

The vehicle was almost vintage in a world where cars were streamlined to look like electric shavers. It was a dark-blue 1986 Ford LTD Crown Victoria sedan, boxy and huge in the classic Made in Detroit way most American cars used to be made...it was so big, in fact, someone could live in its spacious back seat. The LTD had its rear to the brick wall of the bar, and Rebecca only had to look at its front license plate, which signified it came from Maine. She'd memorized the number Douglas gave her, and there was no doubt. This was Cheryl's car.

Rebecca found a space not far away, shut down the sports cycle's engine, and took off her helmet. She got off of her ride and moved past the LTD to the entrance to the bar. Feeling nervous, Rebecca thought, _Okay...full steam ahead, girl._

Then she went inside.  
**  
-3-  
**  
This was how Rebecca and Cheryl first met.

Rebecca Chambers walked into the bar as she heard the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughn sing from the jukebox, hoping she looked casual...she didn't expect or want any trouble. The short-haired brunette was an attention-grabber from the way she dressed, though. She wore a dark crimson tank top that stopped below her breasts and exposed her pale, slender midsection, long matching gloves that sheathed her arms to past her elbows, and blue jeans that hugged her athletic legs like a second skin. Her thick-heeled cowboy boots clocked on the hardwood floor as she stepped, and then she had to pause as she stared back at the many (male) customers at the bar who stopped what they were doing to look her over. Rebecca couldn't have been called daring - she wore such clothes in her causal hours - but she had the self-confidence to never back down from a challenge. At that moment, though, Rebecca knew she was being appraised by the many eyes looking upon this stranger in town, and she suddenly knew with a burst of self-awareness that Chris Redfield wouldn't be happy with the 'low profile' she had established so far.

A moment later, Rebecca couldn't help but feel relief wash over her as most of the men in the bar turned their gazes from her back to their drinks, or to each other as they got back to talking. This could have started out better, she thought, but being a stranger to this bar and to Black Falls on the whole, she would have immediately earned the attention of the locals no matter how she dressed. She clutched her handbag a little tighter to her side and felt the reassuring weight of her Beretta 92F 9mm pistol inside. (Two spare clips for the weapon were in hidden pockets of her purse, as well.) She went straight to the bar and ordered a beer, paid for it, and began to make like she was looking for a free seat...the bar's interior was spacious, but again, a seat wasn't what she was really looking for. Rebecca was looking for someone among the bar's many patrons...

...and then the agent saw her, seated alone at the back of the bar...at a table with two chairs, one of which she occupied.

There was absolutely nothing special about the slender blonde girl at first glance, which ironically made Rebecca's gaze solidly fix on her completely. The blonde was a little taller than the BSAA agent and about the same age, maybe a few years younger. Rebecca couldn't have been sure because even from a distance, there was such an air of age in the flat expression of the girl's face. She got the feeling there was so much weight on the girl's shoulders, even though she sat upright at her table, holding a mug of beer in her slender hands. She was a little paler than Rebecca, her complexion marred only by cute, sporadic freckles on the girl's nose and cheeks. The bangs of her short blonde hair spilled down upon her face, but didn't obscure her eyes...and there was a such a haunted, lonely quality in those eyes. They were eyes that had seen so much...perhaps too much. The girl's full, expressive lips of her mouth were neutral, perhaps deliberately so. Rebecca got the impression the girl had withdrawn into herself like a turtle would retreat into their shell as she sat in the bar. What the blonde wore could only accentuate her defensiveness...her leather jacket, flannel shirt, jeans and boots were anonymous yet durable; still, her lovely face hinted at the beauty the rest of her clothes concealed.

In this way, visually, Rebecca and the blonde seemed polar opposites in attitude and style.

Still, there was something about the girl that gently beckoned to the BSSA agent. Rebecca couldn't have named what she began to feel for the lonely girl...not then. It was something that could only be _felt_ in her heart.

What Rebecca felt made her move to the girl's table as much as her need to understand Silent Hill.

One moment, the blonde woman was lost in her own thoughts as she stared at the drink her pale fingers touched...the next moment, she heard a soft, happy voice say, "Hi, there!" She quickly looked up from her beer to see the petite, brunette beauty standing there with a drink of her own. Her eyes were kind and her smile threatened to brighten the half-lit interior of the bar. Rebecca Chambers asked, "Mind if I join you?"

The blonde's heavy, expressive eyes looked at the stranger for a beat. She said, "I'm new in this town, too. I'm just saying, in case you needed directions or something."

Rebecca didn't lose a degree of her cheerful smile as she shook her head. "Oh no, I just wanted to sit with you. Is that all right...?"

The blonde nodded. "Sure."

Rebecca's smile became even brighter as she said, "Thanks." She sat down across from Cheryl and sat her beer on the table. The brunette's eyes were full of curiosity as she asked, "How did you know I didn't live here?"

The blonde gave her a look. "Are you kidding? A plane falling out of the sky would have gotten less attention than you did when you came in the door."

"Oh, right." Rebecca looked down at the table, feeling more self-conscious than ever. She looked up again and asked, "How long have you been in Black Falls?"

"I just got here a few days ago."

"Okay. My name's Rebecca."

The blonde nodded. "I'm Heather."

"I know." Rebecca then asked, "Or would you prefer I call you Cheryl?" The blonde stared at Rebecca, but the agent's eyes were still elementally gentle...her smile was soft. "That's your real name, right? Cheryl Mason?"

Cheryl Mason continued to stare at Rebecca...her voice was suddenly as thin and taut as a drawstring: "What do you want from me?"

Rebecca held up her hands, and then carefully spread them. "Just...this. Just to sit with you, talk with you. I mean you no harm, Cheryl."

Cheryl's eyes examined the brunette as the jukebox changed discs to a new selection...Huey Lewis began to belt out an 80's classic about a girl with heart and soul. Cheryl said softly, unsure, "Your name's Rebecca..."

The agent nodded. "Rebecca Chambers. I work for the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance."

Cheryl frowned a little, confused. She knew what the BSAA was...most people did ever since the organization played a critical role in stopping the recent C-Virus epidemic that threatened the entire world. "I don't get it. Why would someone like you want to talk to me?"

Rebecca answered, "Because I'm here for the same reason you are." Cheryl looked a question at her. The agent then said, "You're in Black Falls because you think what's left of The Order is here, right?"

The light seemed to shift in Cheryl's eyes as her frown deepened. "Yes."

Rebecca sat forward as she looked into Cheryl's eyes, as she laid her cards on the table. "I want to help you, Cheryl. I know The Order has been involved in terrible things, that they had something to do with what happened to Silent Hill." Simply saying the name Silent Hill made the blonde's expression shift in a subtle yet primal way; she loathed to even hear of that town, and Rebecca couldn't help but notice. The brunette's voice softened further as she said, "I know because I've talked to others who survived that town...but I need to know more."

Cheryl said flatly, "You obviously talked to Douglas. He must have told you how to find me."

The brunette nodded. "He's really worried about you."

"So I'll give him a call and let him know I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me, either."

Rebecca's gaze fixed on Cheryl's eyes as she said with a smile, "Too late. You shouldn't be doing this alone, especially if you have a history with The Order. I promise I'm not just here to help...I'll do everything I can to protect you."

Cheryl frowned again as she looked down. "In this world, a promise is just words that don't mean anything."

Rebecca Chambers' expression shifted to become solemn as she slowly, carefully reached out with one hand across the table...and gently rested on one of Cheryl Mason's. The blonde looked up, suddenly uncomfortable. But Rebecca's gesture was meant to reassure, just like the soft yet earnest tone of her voice as she spoke: "I mean every word I say, Cheryl. I want to help you and protect you, and I _swear_ I won't ever let you down. But I also need your help...I need to ask that you trust me. Please."

For a long, uncertain moment, Cheryl was quiet. Then... "I don't even know you, Rebecca. Why do you care so much?"

"Because I've been to places where very, very bad things happened, too...and if there's anything I can do to keep those things from happening to anyone else, I will."

"And where have you been?"

Rebecca answered, "Raccoon City."

For another moment, the women simply looked at each other as one silently made a choice. Neither had any idea how important that choice would become to the both of them. And to the world.

Finally, Cheryl Mason pulled her hand from Rebecca's and stood. The blonde said, "Okay. Let's go outside."

Rebecca Chambers quickly stood too, her expression clearly grateful. "Okay. Did you want to finish your beer first?"

"I never even started it. C'mon." Just like that, Cheryl moved in the direction of the bar's exit. Rebecca quickly followed, not caring about her drink, either.  
**  
-4-  
**  
Outside, Rebecca followed the quiet, lonely blonde to her LTD. Cheryl stopped at her big car's nose as she fished out a cigarette and a lighter from the breast pocket of her shirt. As she put the filter of her cigarette between her full lips, Cheryl turned to Rebecca and asked, "Can I see your badge?"

Without hesitation, Rebecca said, "Sure!" She got it out of her purse...and she watched as Cheryl lit her cigarette, red light briefly illuminating her pretty face in the darkening hours of evening. Rebecca then offered her badge to the girl.

Cheryl exhaled a slow, thoughtful jet of smoke from her lips as she stared at the BSAA I.D., and then she gave it back to Rebecca. The blonde's behind rested gently on a fender of her Ford as she finally seemed to relax a little. Cheryl's sad, heavy eyes fixed on Rebecca...and she said, "You want to know more about me. I need to know more about you. Let's take turns asking each other questions, okay?"

Rebecca nodded with enthusiasm. "Fine by me. Um, who goes first?"

As she smoked, the quiet blonde said, "You're the one who came looking for me. You want to know my history with The Order. You can go first."

Rebecca quickly brought up a hand in a gentle 'hold it' gesture. "A-actually, I've got one other thing to ask! I mean, before we get started, Cheryl."

"What?"

"Please, _please_ don't hold anything back. Tell me everything. Douglas and a few others I talked to didn't want to tell me everything about their experiences, and it got pretty frustrating. But they all said I wouldn't believe what they had kept from me."

Cheryl Mason's eyes were full of knowledge as she said matter-of-factly, "They were right, Rebecca."

Rebecca Chambers crossed her arms under her bosom as her expression became serious. "Girl, I've fought zombies. I survived an _outbreak_ of those creatures. I have an open mind about unbelievable stuff. Really!"

The parking lot lights of the bar switched on, illuminating the halo of blue smoke that drifted around Cheryl. Her expression was cryptic as she said, "We'll see about that." A beat of silence...and it began. "Okay, you want to know my connection to The Order?"

Rebecca nodded, curious yet patient. "M-hmm?"

Cheryl Mason said, "My mother, Dahlia Gillespie, was a high priestess of The Order. I never knew who my father was...from what little I've learned about him he was part of the cult too, and he died before I was even born." Rebecca thought quickly of the late Harry Mason, who according to Cheryl's birth certificate records was her father, and she reasoned he must have adopted the girl. "If The Order was involved in his death, I can only guess why they killed him. Maybe he was one of their sacrifices. They killed a lot of people for their God.

"Anyway, Dahlia was a true believer. She didn't make room in her heart for anything but her faith. Sometimes, I wonder if she ever even loved me, even for a moment." Cheryl was silent for a moment again, her expression deliberately impassive. "When I was only a child, Dahlia discovered I was special and she wanted to use me to bring her God to Earth."

Rebecca's expression was a mix of sympathy for Cheryl and discomfort from knowing the things she knew already. "I know the cult believed you were their Mother of God. I think what's left of them still do."

"Yeah." There was so much emotion in Cheryl's eyes as she thought back, even though her face stayed neutral. "I was destined to be the one who would give birth to the new incarnation of God, and then the world would be delivered into Paradise." Her eyes looked into Rebecca's again as she finished, "That's all I was good for to my mother. To be used."

Rebecca's heart instantly went out to Cheryl. What kind of life could that have been like? Was it even a life at all? The agent frowned softly. "What did they do, Cheryl?"

But...Cheryl took another drag of her cigarette and said, "Sorry, my turn to ask something. Okay?"

Rebecca didn't mind at all. "Okay."

Then...a surprisingly amused tone infiltrated Cheryl's voice as she asked her next question, but she didn't smile. She questioned lightly, "How in the world did a nice girl like you start fighting zombies?"

Rebecca Chambers beamed back and answered, "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, how else? I'd just joined the Raccoon City Police Department's Special Tactics and Rescue Squad. I was assigned to be Bravo Team's field medic."

Cheryl Mason's brow furrowed as she looked at Rebecca. "Wait a minute. That was back in '98, when I was still in high school." Her eyes suddenly examining again, Cheryl asked, "Uh, is it okay to ask how old you are?"

Again Rebecca didn't mind, and answered immediately. "Just a few years older than you are, Cheryl."

Cheryl, like most every American, knew of Raccoon City and its terrible, tragic end that year of 1998. She knew it started because of the outbreak of a zombifying virus, and it ended when the government had no choice but to destroy the city with a tactical nuclear weapon strike to keep the virus from spreading any further. Confused, Cheryl had to comment, "But you would've just gotten out of high school at that time...!"

Rebecca smiled and clarified, "Actually, I'd just gotten out of _college_. I was a prodigy, and I graduated with degrees in medicine and chemistry earlier that year. I'm also a pretty darn good mechanic. I can fix up that old Crown Vic of yours if you ever have engine trouble."

Cheryl looked fondly down upon the front of her car and said, "It's okay, I know more than enough to keep this car running good." She considered her Ford for a moment, and added in a quieter voice, "My dad left me this car..."

Rebecca felt the sudden, growing sadness from Cheryl. The agent said carefully, "You mean Harry Mason...?"

Cheryl's posture stiffened as grief flooded her face. Her voice was thick with emotion... "He was my _true_ father...the best man I had ever known. H-he saved me, and...he gave me the love I'd always needed so much..." Cheryl closed her eyes as she fought back her tears, sought to control herself.

Deeply affected, Rebecca said, "Cheryl, I...I'm so sorry about your father. I-I wish I could think of something better to say..."

Close to crying, Cheryl Mason had to make an effort to calm herself...she relaxed in breath and posture very slowly. The loss of her father Harry was still an open wound in her heart, even after over ten years. Her sad eyes also expressed gratitude when she said thickly, "Th-thank you."

Rebecca couldn't help but softly step closer to Cheryl...she wanted so much to hold the blonde girl. Give her some form of comfort. Give her anything to ease her pain. From within the bar, even from outside, the jukebox's music could still be heard as it switched from Huey Lewis to _Southern Cross_ by Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Cheryl then looked at Rebecca and asked quietly, "So you're a genius, huh?"

"Huh?" The question took Rebecca completely off her guard. She answered awkwardly, "No..._heck_, no! I-I mean, I've never thought of myself that way!"

Cheryl couldn't help but be curious. "Still, if you're so smart, you could've done anything you wanted. Why be a police officer?"

Rebecca suddenly lifted one of her hands and wagged her finger, a cautioning gesture a matron would make. She said lightly as she smiled, "Ah-ah! That's officially _three_ questions you asked me so far! Let me catch up, huh?"

Rebecca had hoped to lift Cheryl's spirits, even a little, but instead the blonde girl nodded and said quietly, "Sorry." Rebecca suddenly had to wonder if this girl even knew _how_ to smile. Cheryl then asked, "Would you mind if we go somewhere else to talk more?"

Rebecca nodded and said, "Sure, where?"

"Just down the street," Cheryl Mason said as she flicked her cigarette to the pavement of the parking lot. "Before we go, though, I need to tell you something. I've got a gun in the glove compartment of my car."

Rebecca Chambers wasn't surprised. "I know. Douglas told me you had a gun for protection. What kind of gun?" She didn't need to see it. Only Heaven knew how much attention would be drawn if Cheryl got out the gun to show it to her.

"An old Colt .45 Peacemaker. The kind of gun that's in all the Hollywood Westerns, you know?"

"A single-action handgun? Kind of a strange choice for self-defense."

Cheryl shrugged. "Yeah, but I wanted something simple and I'm a good shot. I don't need a gun with a lot of bullets in it." She thought back to thirteen years ago, the last time The Order tracked her down, when she first took up a handgun against a living nightmare in a shopping mall. Even then, she was a natural with a gun...but she didn't have to share that with Rebecca. Not yet. Still, Cheryl asked, "Am I in trouble?"

Rebecca smiled reassuredly. "No. I'm not looking to bust you for wanting to defend yourself against The Order. Still, you might want to keep it in the car and not carry it around. I meant it when I said I'm here to help you, Cheryl. I don't want you to get in trouble, either."  
**  
-5-  
**  
Several minutes later, down the street in a Happy Burger restaurant. They both got value meals - a sandwich and drink - and they sat across from each other next to the showroom window for the fast food joint. The place wasn't too busy...most of the town was probably eating at home with their families while watching the most popular 'reality-TV' program. The big Ford and green cycle were parked just outside on the curb. Rebecca took her time, not wanting to hurry Cheryl in her questions. The agent wanted the blonde to feel at ease with her...but she was unsure how well that was working. Rebecca got back into it as they ate by saying, "I don't have to guess you didn't want to be The Order's Mother of God, huh?"

Cheryl sipped from her diet drink. "I hated the whole idea of it. But...it's not like I was given a choice. I couldn't defy what Dahila kept calling my 'destiny'."

"You mentioned that it was because you were special. What do you mean by that?"

Cheryl gazed into Rebecca's eyes for a beat before she spoke. "I've got to warn you, Rebecca. If you really want to know the answer, it'll be one of those things you won't believe."

Rebecca's expression was kind, gently inviting. "Just tell me, Cheryl. Please."

Cheryl Mason sighed for a moment, and she looked down for a moment...and then she looked back into the agent's eyes. "For as long as I can remember, I've had...powers. Ever since I was a child in Silent Hill. I've always been afraid to reach into myself and use those powers. I'm so afraid of what I could do."

Rebecca Chambers shook her head. "'Powers'?"

Cheryl said quietly, "I can hear other people's thoughts when I want to, and I can tell when a person's lying or not. I can...make things happen if I focus enough. I can even make people do things, too. I've never wanted those powers, but ever since I started hunting for The Order, I thought maybe my abilities can help me find them." Rebecca simply stared at Cheryl with wide, confused eyes. She seemed to want to say something, but wasn't sure what would be appropriate. There was almost - almost - the barest hint of a smile on Cheryl's full lips when she said with knowledge, "See? I knew you wouldn't believe me."

"Cheryl, I..." Rebecca fell silent, at a loss. But then her expression shifted and she looked at Cheryl with a patient, caring gaze. "I'm not a liar. I told you I have an open mind, and I meant it. Uh, maybe you could show me what you mean?"

Cheryl blinked. "What?"

"I'm not asking for something big, like a Jedi Mind Trick, okay?" Rebecca thought fast, and... "You said you can hear thoughts? Okay. I'll think of something, and you tell me what I'm thinking."

"I..." Cheryl's expression was uncertain. "A-are you sure...?"

Rebecca nodded, reassuring. "I'm sure, Cheryl. Really. Um...just let me get set...!" Rebecca suddenly sat up straight on her side of their table, cleared her throat, and then went as still as possible as she looked at Cheryl. The agent finally said, "Okay, go ahead."

Cheryl gave a strange look to the brunette...but then, as Rebecca looked back at her, something in her sad, heavy eyes...shifted. For a moment, to the BSAA agent, it seemed like the blonde girl's eyes..._gleamed_. Then Cheryl Mason began to sing the chorus of a song..._the same chorus Rebecca was thinking of, singing to herself in her mind!_

"Can't read my - Can't read my - No, he can't read my poker face - !"

Stunned, Rebecca Chambers almost exclaimed, "Wow!" Half the people in the Happy Burger turned to look at her and Cheryl as a consequence. Rebecca wisely quieted down and covered her mouth with her hands, but her wide eyes were full of childlike wonder as she stared at Cheryl. As everyone else turned back to what they were doing (much to Cheryl's relief), Rebecca managed to breathe, "Oh, wow! Y-you really did it...!"

Cheryl Mason gave the girl a look. "You could've thought of a better song, Rebecca."

"Hey, I only had a few seconds!" Rebecca quickly added defensively, "Besides, I like Lady Gaga." The brunette's eyes were still huge as she shook her head softly. "Wow!" A moment passed as she got ahold of herself, and then she asked curiously, "But you're afraid to use your powers? Why?"

Cheryl said softly, "I can make more happen than you can imagine, Rebecca. My power can...change things. It honestly terrifies me what I'm capable of." And there was such a soul-deep, primal fear in Cheryl's eyes. "So if I never use my powers, bury them, I won't hurt anyone."

Rebecca frowned. "And your mom...your own _mother_ decided you'd be perfect for being the Mother of God because you were so special."

"Yes."

There was so much Rebecca needed to understand, though. She asked, her eyes full of need, "But how would you have been The Order's mother of their God?" Her beautiful face twisted for a moment to sudden revulsion. "When I hear that, my first thought is _impregnation_, but...!" Rebecca's voice drifted off then.

The survivor saw Cheryl Mason's expression darken with sorrow and shame as she looked down...and that was when, at least in part, Rebecca Chambers began to understand the _real_ depths of evil of The Order.

Horrified, saddened to her core, Rebecca softly said, "Oh. Oh Cheryl, you were only a _child - !_"

"That didn't matter," Cheryl said, and her voice sounded like a glass breaking slowly as she remembered all she was forced to endure. "Nothing mattered to Dahlia but reincarnating her God."

Rebecca looked at Cheryl with saddened, elemental compassion. "I am so sorry..."

They were both silent for a moment.

Then, Cheryl Mason looked into Rebecca's eyes again. Her voice was literally desolate as she spoke. "The worst part of it was, I was so...alone. I might as well have lived in an empty house, that's how much Dahlia cared for me. School was just as bad. Sometimes I lost control of my powers, and all of the kids started to hate me. They called me a witch. All I wanted was...was _love_, Rebecca. But there was no love, no light in my life in Silent Hill." Then, slowly, a strength slowly built in the girl's voice... "But I swore I'd fight them. I promised I'd never, ever give The Order what they wanted. I'd never be their tool. I'd never let them make me hurt people. After..." Pain suddenly flooded Cheryl's expression, making her strength in her eyes waver. "...after what was done to me, I can't tell you how much I wanted to die. I thought death would be my escape, and it'd be the only way to stop Dahlia and The Order. It was the last real way I could fight them, keep myself from being their Mother of God if I somehow...just...ended it all."

"Cheryl..." Rebecca Chambers couldn't help but empathize, feel so much for Cheryl, as well. The sadness the agent felt from knowing this girl had been brutalized and even _raped_ for a damned cult's beliefs reached to the core of her soul. But...a fury slowly built within Rebecca, too...a righteous anger and desire to fight those who brought so much pain and suffering to this girl and so many more. That anger only cemented her already-certain resolve completely. Rebecca told Cheryl, with pure earnestness, "_That will never happen again._ I'm here for you now, and they'll have to get through me to even think about touching you again. I will help you stop them once and for all, Cheryl. I _promise_."

Moved by Rebecca's words, elementally grateful, Cheryl nodded shakily. She didn't even need her powers to know every word from Rebecca was pure truth. "I believe you, Rebecca. Thank you..." But Cheryl's expression was still unsure as she continued, "But...we may be too late. The Order has already started something in this town."

Rebecca frowned and began to ask, "Why do you - ?" Then a ringtone sounded, and Rebecca flinched. "Oh, shoot!" She quickly fished into her handbag and pulled out her iPhone. She looked at Cheryl and began lamely, "I'm really sorry, I have to - !"

Cheryl nodded gently. "It's okay."

Having Cheryl's okay didn't make Rebecca feel any better. She checked her screen and saw who the incoming call was coming from. Rebecca breathed, "Aw Jill, not now...!" She then pressed a couple of buttons and set the iPhone on their table...Rebecca focused on Cheryl again and said, "I'm really sorry, you were saying?"

But Cheryl glanced at the phone, then back into Rebecca's eyes. "Who was that?"

"Someone I work with in the BSAA, Jill Valentine. We've been best friends ever since Raccoon City."

Cheryl said, "Rebecca, if that call was important, don't let me get in the way. Call her back."

Rebecca smiled gently, wanting to be there for Cheryl. "I was gonna wait to do that after we talked, it's all right - !"

"Rebecca...it's really okay." The soft expression in Cheryl's eyes expressed that it truly was. "Call her back and talk to her. I can feel how important she is to you."

Rebecca realized that Cheryl did indeed feel that, and she was right. The agent's expression softened further and she said, but reluctantly, "Thank you. Uh, I'll be right outside, okay?" Rebecca picked up her iPhone and left the booth and began to the door, but not before quickly saying again, with feeling, "Thank you!" In a moment, she was outside.  
**  
-6-  
**  
Outside on the sidewalk, Rebecca saw Cheryl through the glass, and they waved to each other. As she focused on her phone and dialed back Jill, Rebecca suddenly felt the need to return to the blonde girl as quickly as possible. It wasn't just because she became primally protective of Cheryl, who had been through so many terrible things. She didn't need to read minds to know that. But there was something more.

It felt so good to be with Cheryl, Rebecca thought...it truly did.

Then Rebecca heard a lady's voice, one she instantly recognized: "Rebecca?"

Rebecca Chambers cheerfully answered, "Yeah Jill, it's me!"

Rebecca heard Jill Valentine's happiness as she said, "Hi, sweetie! Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Oh no, I'm all right! I was just talking to someone. Are you still in Mexico City?"

"I called to let you know I'm just about done here. I'll be taking the first flight back to D.C. in the morning." Jill Valentine was there in Mexico City to ensure that the C-Virus vaccine was distributed everywhere it had to be by the Mexican government. After the recent, terrible epidemic that almost touched every corner of the globe, the BSAA didn't want to take any chances and make sure everyone who could get the vaccine did without any difficulties. "Chris told me you were investigating something?"

"Yeah, I'm in Vermont now. I found a girl who might give us a lead on this lunatic cult." Anger suddenly flared in Rebecca's heart. "You know, it's nice of Chris to finally let me out of the labs for _something_ important! For all I know, he probably said okay because he got tired of hearing me complain - !"

Jill felt Rebecca's anger in her words, and she knew exactly what her dear friend was talking about...it was a long-standing bone of contention between Chris and Rebecca. Jill began, "Sweetie, don't get yourself started - !"

Rebecca almost shouted, "I know, Jill!" The petite beauty suddenly regretted that outburst and frowned...she said in a much, much softer tone, "I...I'm sorry. I know." She reflexively looked at Cheryl through the window glass. "It's just, I've been talking to this girl, Cheryl, and you can tell she's been through hell just looking into her eyes. I know cults can be terrible, but...she can't even say what was done to her."

"Hey," Jill said, reassuring. "If anyone can help her, you can, Rebecca. I know it."

Rebecca felt warm as she smiled and turned her back to the window again. "How much did Chris tell you about this?"

"Only about the two towns dying because of this cult...god, thousands of people gone without anyone hearing about it?"

"Yeah. It may sound crazy, but it happened." Inside, as she spoke, Cheryl left the booth and went to the cashier for a moment. "What matters is we don't let The Order hurt anyone else."

Jill couldn't help but say with disquiet, "The fog that won't go away in Silent Hill sounds like something out of a horror movie."

Rebecca giggled. "Yeah, but I really doubt John Carpenter had anything to do with this!" The girl's expression shifted to become serious again. "Jill, I'm really sorry, I need to get back to Cheryl."

"I understand. I'm sorry I interrupted."

Rebecca quickly, gently said, "Don't be sorry, Jill. I missed you." She truly did miss the woman she knew for years as her best, dearest friend.

Jill's voice was full of emotion as she said, "I missed you too, sweetie. How much longer should you be in Vermont?"

"I'm not sure, honestly. I haven't even started to help Cheryl look for answers. I'll call you tomorrow night, okay?"

Jill Valentine said, "Okay. Take care, Rebecca. Love you."

Rebecca nodded. "Love you too, Jill. Bye!"

"Bye!" Their connection was broken.  
**  
-7-  
**  
Rebecca returned to her booth...and saw Cheryl was reading what looked like a newspaper tabloid...it had the standard, _The Black Falls Current_. Underneath the paper's name, it proclaimed it was _Your community news!_ The date on the front page indicated it was published last Friday. Rebecca returned to her seat and said, "Hey, thanks again." As Cheryl looked up at the agent, Rebecca couldn't help but ask, "Where'd you get that?"

"I got it from the cashier," Cheryl answered. "It's from last week, and he had an extra copy." The girl had turned to literally the second to last page of the paper. Cheryl's expression shifted to become very serious as she said, "It has an article you need to see on the second to last page."

Rebecca raised her eyebrows. "Uh-huh?"

"I saw this paper, this article, a few days ago after I first arrived in town. It'll show you I was right to come here." Cheryl then offered the opened paper to Rebecca.

"Okay..." Rebecca took it and focused on the second to last page. There was only one small article to be read...the rest of the page was crammed with colorful advertisements for local businesses. But it was the news article that got Rebecca's complete attention...  
**  
YOUNG PROMISES POSSIBLE SOLUTION FOR PARASITES**

**By Richard Bachman**

_For months, the community of Black Falls has been in fear of the parasites  
that have afflicted several townspeople and were directly responsible for  
two deaths. As every citizen of town knows, difficulties began in May when  
the slug-like creatures first emerged. It's still theorized that the parasites  
came from underground, possibly because they somehow lost their primary  
food source. Ever since, they have been a public health hazard that can  
only become more serious over time. It's therefore a source of relief that  
one of the most reliable pillars of our community says he is close to a  
solution one week before the much-anticipated County Fair.  
Doctor Burton Young, Administrator of our town's Wyler Community  
Hospital, stated on Thursday: "After working day and night for months to  
find a solution to these parasites, I believe I and some of the top doctors  
on my hospital staff are very close to finding it. I hope you'll understand I  
still can't say much more than that. I can say that we have had amazing  
results thus far in our trials that are designed to ensure it is perfectly safe  
and holds no side effects for the good citizens of Black Falls."  
_  
The rest of the article turned to fluff, basically praising Doctor Young for his decades of work in the community and so forth.

Rebecca Chambers felt a terrible foreboding as she looked up from the paper at Cheryl. "I don't understand..."

Cheryl Mason looked at Rebecca, and there was so much fear in her eyes. "The Order used parasites, _those same parasites_, in Silent Hill."  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Time for Chapter Three! Cheryl Mason and Rebecca Chambers continue to get to know each other as they prepare to hunt for The Order. Unfortunately, they discover how entrenched the enemy is in Black Falls, and the cult is preparing to do something terrible. In spite of that, something has begun to grow between Cheryl and Rebecca...something elemental and eternal...could it be love?**

**By the way, you veteran SILENT HILL fans will remember the parasites mentioned in this chapter from the very first game!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**CHAPTER THREE:**

**"THE LAMPLIGHT DIALOGUES"**

**-1-**

**In a Happy Burger restaurant on the main street of a small Vermont town called Black Falls, Rebecca Chambers felt her blood chill. **The petite, brunette beauty forgot about the value meal she'd been eating as she asked, "Cheryl, are you sure about this?"

Sitting across from Rebecca at a window-side table, Cheryl Mason responded to the BSAA agent's question with a glare: "I wouldn't be telling you this if I wasn't sure, Rebecca!" But the pretty blonde quickly, clearly regretted the angry tone in those words and she said much more softly, "I'm sorry..."

Rebecca said gently, "It's okay." It truly was. She still knew very little about Cheryl, and could only guess what kind of hell The Order put her through. "You've been in Black Falls longer than I have. Tell me what you know."

Cheryl relaxed, and after a moment got into it... "Ever since I arrived, I've listened to the locals talk. Sometimes I'd ask questions when I felt I could risk it, but I'd mostly use my powers to hear the thoughts of those who are worried about those parasites, and there are a _lot_ of worried people. I've also seen things in the memories of some people who work at the hospital."

Cheryl Mason learned a lot. It started in May, and the cases were spread out across the local area and over the timespan of the past few months. At first, in the case of the first man afflicted, a local farmer, some thought that heavy drinking or drugs were involved. He suddenly began behaving very strangely in front of family and friends one morning...he didn't respond to anyone talking to him, and his every move became clumsy...twitchy. It was like he didn't know how to move in his own skin anymore; or better to say, he seemed to act like a _puppet_ in the control of an invisible operator who didn't quite know how to use him. In this farmer's case and every case afterward, one didn't have to look hard to see something else out of the ordinary.

All those afflicted had developed strange, distinctive _humps_ to their backs that made their clothing fit awkwardly.

It didn't take long before family and friends called for medical help in every case...however, the Black Falls Sheriff's Office also got involved in these cases because the afflicted didn't want any help, and that was putting it gently. In each case paramedics arrived, and the subject would respond to any attempt to approach them with sudden, savage violence. One killed his own brother before he was subdued, and another took up his old shotgun...he almost killed a deputy with its double-barrels before he was gunned down in self-defense.

And in most every case, after the afflicted were taken to the hospital, the shocking true culprit was exposed: a slug-like creature with glistening black skin about a foot long attached to the person's back squarely between the shoulder blades. In the case of the man who was killed, who was a mild-mannered insurance salesman most in Black Falls knew, the creature disengaged from him and damn near got away. Some on the scene thought fast and managed to catch the thing, even though it was harder to handle than a greased pig and they were sorely tempted to just kill it. To say the least, the creatures were unlike anything anyone had seen or even heard of before...but by July, Doctor Burton Young, Administrator of Wyler Community Hospital, described them as parasites. It was theorized by local wildlife experts that they were fully subterranean creatures somehow stirred from underground by a seismic event or something else that forced them to rise to the surface.

There was no doubt the creatures were parasites, albeit of a kind never before encountered, and it appeared humans made fine hosts. How the things joined with their prey was horrifying. When it attached to a human's back by small, incredibly strong suction cups on its underside not unlike those of an octopus, the parasite extended a long, sharp tube similar to a proboscis that pierced the host's skin and drove into the spinal cord, connecting the creature directly to the host's central nervous system. Every medical specialist involved was at a loss to explain it, but the results were undeniable.

The parasite effectively _possesses_ a host, their own brain supplanting the human's and taking control of them. That was why in every case, the spasmodic and unsure movements of each victim made them appear like puppets on strings. Something yet to be explained, and far more disturbing, was how the late insurance salesman could have operated a shotgun while under parasitic control...this indicated that the creatures had a surprisingly high intelligence of their own, at or approaching human levels, and that alone was scary as hell.

It absolutely frightened Rebecca Chambers, as she thought back on all she learned about parasites in college...while she didn't have a photographic memory, her ability to recall information came pretty close. Parasites were designed very, very simply: to inflitrate a symbiont, another living being, for nourishment and even reproduction. In nature, they took the form of worms or microscopic, single-cell organisms. But what was in Black Falls, what Cheryl claimed had been in Silent Hill...such a thing shouldn't have been possible!

But then the BSAA agent only had to recall what happened to her in 1998. In the forests and that damn mansion in the shadow of the Arklay Mountains, and finally in Raccoon City just before its fall. Rebecca Chambers knew from those experiences and terrible crises like the C-Epidemic that the rule of nature no longer applied anymore.

Because of those driven by greed or insanity, in their desire to create bio-engineered, genetically-altered beings and viruses for their own purposes, this had long ago become a brave yet frightening new world.

Rebecca broke from her thoughts and focused fully on Cheryl as the blonde spoke again: "In Silent Hill, The Order used the parasites on people they decided they'd rather control instead of kill. People here don't want to talk about the creatures, but they're terrified. So many just want to ignore it and hope it goes away while others are waiting to hear about Doctor Young's 'solution'...but I _know_ it's going to get worse." There was such a haunted knowledge in Cheryl's eyes when she quietly finished, "It's just a question of when."

Rebecca's lovely face took a serious set as she laced the fingers of her hands together on the table...she looked down for a moment before she spoke. "I need to see these parasites for myself...I'll investigate what's being done about them at the hospital. I do have authority as a Medical Specialist for the BSAA." She looked up into Cheryl's eyes. "I believe all you're saying, Cheryl, and I'll talk to Doctor Young, too. You came here because you suspected he's tied to The Order, right?"

Cheryl nodded. "The moment Douglas told me about Doctor Young, about his history in Silent Hill...I had a terrible feeling he might be connected to whatever was left of the cult, and I was right."

With determination, Rebecca said, "Then maybe I can rattle his cage and see what drops."

Cheryl had been relaxed mostly, but suddenly sat up straight in response, her expression uncertain. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Rebecca. Even if you're a federal agent, you could get in trouble..."

Rebecca smiled at Cheryl fondly, but her eyes were confident. "I'll be okay, Cheryl. I won't take any dumb chances."

Cheryl then implored, "Please don't. I don't want anything to happen to you." The pretty blonde fell silent then...she looked at Rebecca awkwardly for a beat, and she looked at the table defensively, away from the brunette's gaze. She said, much quieter, "I-I mean, I've gotten close enough to Doctor Young to know his thoughts at the time. He's a selfish bastard and he is working with The Order. He might see you as a threat if you do rattle his cage."

Rebecca felt awkward for a moment, as well...she could feel the care and something much, much deeper from Cheryl when she let down her guard and said what she was feeling. Rebecca felt warm inside as she smiled softly and promised, "I'll be careful, Cheryl. I really will." She then thought to ask, "You read Doctor Young's thoughts...is he a _part_ of the cult, Cheryl?"

Cheryl shook her head, her expression one of contempt for Burton Young. "No. He's no true believer. Young is just working with The Order because he thinks it'll get him more power and money." The blonde added darkly, "He's just like Kaufmann."

Rebecca looked at Cheryl and asked, "You mean Philip Kaufmann, who Young worked with in Silent Hill - ?"

Cheryl Mason's face twisted with sudden anger as she said with disgust, "Kaufmann was an _asshole_. He wasn't a believer either, but he also worked with The Order to get what he wanted, to make himself richer. They gave Kaufmann the manpower and other things he needed to make drugs and sell them in Silent Hill." Something in the blonde's eyes shifted then. "The thing was, Kaufmann didn't care what The Order wanted, and that was his biggest mistake. By the time he did figure out what they had in mind, it was too late. Kaufmann deserved what he got, Rebecca. He really did." Cheryl looked down and said softly, "Maybe Doctor Young will too someday."

"We'll see," Rebecca said as she looked at Cheryl with a thoughtful expression. "Cheryl...the way you talk about Kaufmann...did you know him?" The blonde girl didn't look up into Rebecca's eyes, but she finally nodded, clearly reluctant to say anything. Rebecca gently pressed further... "Did Kaufmann do anything to you, like Dahlia...?"

Cheryl suddenly looked into Rebecca's eyes as she began to cry. It seemed to take all of her strength to keep her overwhelming emotions bottled in as she wiped away the tears on her cheeks quickly. Cheryl Mason's voice was measured yet incredibly strained as she said, "I...I-I can't talk about it. I'm really sorry..."

Rebecca Chambers' heart went out to the girl again as she shook her head gently. "Don't be sorry," the brunette reassured.

But. Rebecca's thoughts were working at high speed as she realized. She thought, _Wait a minute. Cheryl was born in 1983. We are about the same age...heck, she said she was in high school at the time Raccoon City was destroyed. No doubt about any of that. Yet 1983 was the same year Kaufmann disappeared, just like most everyone in Silent Hill._

And that would have meant Cheryl _couldn't_ have known Kaufmann...she'd have been a newborn at the approximate time he disappeared!

Rebecca would have been tempted to think that Cheryl was lying...if not for one thing. A long time ago, one of Rebecca's instructors in the specialized courses she took to become part of the Special Tactics and Rescue Squad enlightened her to 'tells'. In the world of poker, tells were those little things a player did that indicated whether they had a strong hand or a weak one. In law enforcement, tells were the little things a person did that betrayed them as liars as they answered questions. The look in a person's eyes...a glance to the side or away from whoever was questioning them...nervous, anxious gestures...and much more. The subject fascinated Rebecca, and she learned all she could from the seasoned instructor who had interrogated his fair share of suspects in his police career. She never, ever forgot, either.

Not even once since the first moment she met Cheryl Mason did Rebecca Chambers ever see any tells from the blonde girl. Cheryl hadn't lied to the BSAA agent, not even once, and only refused to speak of things that were clearly painful for her. Rebecca thought, _But there's so much you're not telling me...I have a feeling the most important things I need to know are what you_ haven't _said to me yet._

In response to that thought, the haunted, moody beauty looked at Rebecca. Cheryl said neutrally, "Please be patient with me, Rebecca. Please."

Rebecca's expression softened again, but before she could say anything, bright lights suddenly washed into the Happy Burger through its big windows as the loud screech of tires on pavement were heard. Mercifully, the headlights of the vehicle shut off, but the lamps of its lightbar pulsed urgently. Rebecca and Cheryl saw that it was a police vehicle, a big Chevy Tahoe 4-door SUV that had quickly pulled to a stop at the curb diagonally right in front of Cheryl's LTD in a blockading move.

Cheryl Mason looked outside and breathed, "Dammit."

Rebecca Chambers looked at her. "What's wrong?"

The blonde said, "If this is who I think it is, he gave me trouble before. Mostly because I'm a stranger in town, y'know?"

Rebecca frowned. "He knows you by the name Heather Morris, right?"

Cheryl nodded. "I need to get out there before he busts one of my taillights and gives me a ticket or something."

Rebecca then quickly but gently corrected, "_We_ need to get out there. I'm here for you, Cheryl."  
**  
-2-  
**  
The ladies left the Happy Burger, and standing there about between Cheryl's blue Ford and the police truck was a tall, hard-looking man in a Black Falls Sheriff's Office uniform. But this wasn't a deputy...he was the highest ranking law enforcer in the town. On the driver's door of the truck, in bold lettering, was the name SHERIFF GULAGER.

Under his flat-brimmed hat, 57-year-old Sheriff James Gulager seemed to embody the classic sheriff of a small town at first glance. He even had this laconic, cowboy quality that would have made him fit right into a frontier town in the days of the 1800's Old West. But everything about this man was visually hard and unyielding, like he'd been carved from an oak tree, especially his deeply-lined face framed by thin gray hair. Even Gulager's blue eyes were hard, like glacier ice. His uniform, the star on his chest, and the big semi-auto handgun in his thick and heavy gunbelt all announced his purpose, yet the rest of him naturally compounded his authority, and not in a positive way. This was a man who, at least to strangers in his town, more likely inspired fear than a respect for law and order.

Gulager didn't just look perpetually unhappy, he seemed ready to spread unhappiness around...and his hard eyes were fixed on Cheryl Mason as she left the restaurant with Rebecca Chambers. He nodded to them as they approached, and his voice was low, unfriendly. "Good evening, ladies."

Cheryl said flatly, "Sheriff."

Rebecca, meanwhile, sought to try to make this iceman melt just a little with a warm smile. "Hello! I'm - !"

Gulager jabbed a finger at the brunette and said, "I'll get to you in a minute." He then took two long steps to Cheryl, and his eyes bored into her. "Miss Morris, I gave you some good advice before. Looks like you don't know how to listen."

Cheryl tried to say, "Sheriff, I - "

But Gulager chopped her words off like an axe by growling harshly, "I'll tell you when to open that mouth of yours. Until then, keep it shut." It took all of Rebecca's self control to keep her building anger at Gulager contained. Rebecca thought, _The big jerk's almost two feet taller than Cheryl, and he's pushing her around like a schoolyard bully!_ Which was something Rebecca knew about, flashing back briefly to her days in high school, when she was expected to graduate years before anyone else because she was so gifted. Naturally, some of her fellow students got jealous...and she became the butt of pranks and other unkind things constantly. It made her graduation day from high school cause for relief as much as celebration.

Gulager loomed over Cheryl as he spoke. "As I was saying. I gave you good advice before, and you ignored me. I don't like to repeat myself, but to keep this night peaceable, I'll do it just once."

A short, loud honk was heard, and Gulager turned around to its source. Rebecca and Cheryl saw a second Sheriff's Office SUV pull up in the nearby traffic lane, and a much younger, redheaded man looked out from behind his wheel. In his late twenties, Deputy Tony Callahan was the polar opposite of Gulager, friendly and outgoing. He said, "Hello, Sheriff! What's the situation?"

Gulager looked at him and answered, "It's nothing, Tony. I'm just talking to these ladies."

The young deputy looked at his boss, confused. "Uh, okay. Is there anything I can do - ?"

The Sheriff then almost shouted, "I said _it's nothing_, boy. Get back to your patrol."

Tony went rigid in his truck's seat and nodded quickly. "Y-yessir!" The man then glanced at Cheryl and Rebecca and nodded. "Ladies." He then put his truck in gear and moved out, down the main drag.

Sheriff James Gulager then turned to Cheryl, his eyes even colder than before. "Listen to me very carefully if you were too stupid to do it before, Miss Morris. I want you on your way and out of my town, sooner instead of later. I don't need a vagrant like you coming into my town and causing trouble." He then took a deliberate step and got into Cheryl's space, his presence like a shark's on the hunt. To her credit, Cheryl Mason didn't step back...she looked back into Gulager's eyes, her expression still neutral. That only stoked Gulager's fire... "Make no mistake, I'm in a position to ensure you won't make trouble for anyone. If you don't want to give me a reason to get aggressive about my opinion - make me think, for instance, of searching your car for contraband or something else criminal - I suggest you go. _Now._" Both Cheryl and Rebecca automatically thought of the blonde's Colt .45 in her LTD's glove compartment.

Cheryl's voice was quiet when she said, "Sir, I'm not here - "

Gulager cut her off again, this time in her face: _"I said shut up."_

But Rebecca had taken all she could watching this crap. She said loudly, "Sheriff?" The tall law enforcer almost seemed to finally take notice of the brunette for the first time. Rebecca smiled. "Hi. I know you said you'd get to me, but we really need to talk."

Gulager gave her an annoyed frown. "Girl, you're a stranger in town, too. Hell, maybe I ought to look at you for possible vagrancy - "

Not losing her smile for a moment, Rebecca cheerfully said, "Then maybe you should take a good look at this instead." From her handbag, she quickly pulled out a leather folder and opened it, showing her official badge and identification. "Rebecca Chambers, Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance."

Gulager stared even harder at Rebecca than he had Cheryl, who looked at them both quietly. Gulager finally said, "I need to run that I.D."

Rebecca offered it to the Sheriff then. "Do whatever you have to, sir." Gulager snatched the I.D. from Rebecca and walked back to his truck. He got in behind the wheel and began to use his computer inside to a check on the agent. As he did, Rebecca lost her smile and said softly, "Jerk."

Cheryl drew close to the brunette, her expression worried. "Rebecca..."

Rebecca said, "Shush. You weren't making trouble for anyone, Cheryl. I'm not gonna let him push you around."

Cheryl responded defensively, almost annoyed, "I can take care of myself, Rebecca." But the girl winced at her own words, Rebecca saw, and her expression softened. Cheryl added quietly, "But...thank you." Rebecca realized the girl wasn't used to anyone standing in her defense, and she smiled reassuringly at the blonde.

A few moments later, Gulager returned from his vehicle...he offered Rebecca's badge back to her, but he looked even unhappier than before, if that was possible. He growled, "What are you doing here? I thought your group didn't work in the states."

Rebecca Chambers shook her head as she smiled, as she put her I.D. back into her handbag. "A lot of things changed because of the C-Virus, Sheriff. Domestically we're a federal task force alongside our worldwide duties. And I think that's only appropriate since Americans founded the BSAA." She spoke of her fellow survivors from Raccoon City, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. Ever since its creation, the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance was meant to have global duties when it was formed with the authority of the U.S. government, the United Nations and global pharmaceutical interests to deploy to any country besieged by bio-organic weapons created by rogue states and terrorist groups. It would have had domestic responsibilities to help defend the security of the United States too, but left-leaning politicians screamed bloody murder at the thought of an 'unnecessary, reactionary' paramilitary organization watching over their citizens...they demanded the BSAA limited its duties to foreign lands, much like the Central Intelligence Agency was allowed to operate clandestinely only in other countries.

The recent and worldwide C-Virus epidemic hit nearly every civilized country across the planet, and America wasn't immune...worse, the President of the United States himself fell victim to the virus, assassinated. A vaccine was finally created and began to be distributed globally in July. As the entire world started to recover from the crisis, the voices that demanded the BSAA not work on American soil quickly fell silent. A federal division was created within a few weeks by order of the newly sworn-in President. Rebecca finished, "Anyway, I'm not here on official duty. I just came to meet my friend."

Gulager's eyes narrowed as he glanced at Cheryl and said, "Her?"

"Yep! Now I'm not a lawyer, but I'd call what you're doing to my friend harrassment." Rebecca then boldly stepped up to the Sheriff and stopped just outside of his personal space. The petite beauty lost her smile as she said, "What would _you_ call it?"

Gulager's frown deepened the lines of his face further as he put his hands on his narrow hips. "I don't appreciate you accusing me of something, Miss Chambers - !"

"That's Agent Chambers, sir," Rebecca reminded him. "And I'm just telling you what I saw. I also saw you dismiss one of your deputies as you harrassed my friend, which means at least one thing to me: you didn't want your deputy to witness your unlawful harrassment. No matter how suspicious you are of my friend, you have no probable cause to even question her, much less search her vehicle, which your deputy would have known. You should know that, too."

Gulager's lips turned thin as he snarled, "I don't like you, Agent Chambers!"

Rebecca suddenly, loudly fired back, _"I don't care!"_ She was so focused on Gulager, she didn't notice Cheryl Mason smile for the first time since they first met. Cheryl couldn't help but be impressed. Rebecca said angrily, "I take your harrassment of my friend very seriously, Sheriff Gulager. That's James Gulager, right? I researched everything I needed to know about Black Falls before I got here." The survivor paused only for a beat, deliberately, as Gulager fumed. "Now let me give you some good advice! If you insist on making trouble for someone I care about for no good reason at all, then the only one who's going to have any amount of trouble is you. _I promise._"

For a moment, the petite brunette and the tall law enforcer stared at each other.

Finally, Gulager quietly asked, "What are you both doing here, anyway? If you don't mind my asking."

Rebecca found her smile again, one that would have brightened the night if it could have. "I don't mind a bit. We're here for the County Fair."

The tall man blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Uh-huh. We heard it's one of the best in Vermont, and we're gonna be there on opening day tomorrow. The fairgrounds are just beyond King's Bridge, right?" Gulager nodded slowly. "All we plan on doing is spending money in your area. Is that any reason to be suspicious? Honestly?" Rebecca didn't wait for an answer. "If it is, I'll need to call your mayor. And it's okay, I've got Mayor Griffith's number. I _did_ do my research."

Gulager's posture relaxed a little...his expression was almost one of respect, but grudging. His glacier eyes were still cold. He asked, "You two got a place to stay for tonight? I know Miss Morris has been at the bed and breakfast on Koontz Avenue the past couple of nights. They should still have an open room or two to stay tonight."

Rebecca nodded, her cheerful smile on her face again. "That sounds great, actually. Thanks."

Gulager advised, "You ought to know all of their rooms are booked up for the whole weekend after tonight. Mostly by folks who want to see the fair like you two do. The other inns might be full by then, too. Just so you both know."

"Okay, we'll remember that. Is there anything else?"

Sheriff Gulager said, after a moment, "No. That'll be all...for now. Agent Chambers. Miss Morris." He did a slow burn at them both, though, before he turned and strode back to his truck. He got in, backed away from the curb, and his tires squealed as he stomped on the accelerator and did a fast u-turn. The traffic wasn't that heavy, but the move made the drivers of two vehicles brake so they wouldn't hit the police truck.

The two women watched Gulager drive deeper into town...Rebecca lost her smile again as she crossed her arms. She said, with feeling, "Jerk!"

Cheryl drew close to Rebecca...her expression was very serious. "You don't know the half of it, Rebecca."

Rebecca's eyes were fixed on Gulager's shrinking taillights as she asked, "What do you mean, Cheryl?"

Cheryl then said, matter-of-factly, "The Sheriff's working for The Order, too."

Rebecca Chambers turned to look at Cheryl quickly, her wide eyes full of shock as she felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. The agent shouted, "WHAT?! You're just telling me that _now?_ You could have said something before I even started talking to that jerk!"

Cheryl Mason shook her head, a knowing light shifting in her eyes. "Not a good idea. If you knew Gulager was a criminal, how would you have talked to him? I thought it would be best you didn't give anything away."

Still, Rebecca gave Cheryl a troubled frown. "I-is he like Doctor Young? I mean, he's just on The Order's payroll?"

Cheryl nodded. "So are several other local officials in City Hall. I could see that in his mind."

"Uh, does that include the mayor?"

"No, not yet." Cheryl stepped softly from Rebecca a short distance...she was the one to look in the direction Gulager left then. Her voice was bleak as she said, "Still, this town is already becoming like Silent Hill in too damn many ways. The Order and their corruption, the parasites...we've got to stop this before the worst happens."

Cheryl felt a gentle touch on her shoulder as Rebecca came up to her side, very close. The brunette's expression was one of true worry. "Cheryl...Douglas told me how The Order used him to find you and your dad, and he did in spite of your name change to Heather! Your using that name will still be a red flag to the cult, and if that Sheriff works for them - !"

"You're afraid if he knows I'm here, so will The Order." Cheryl shook her head, her eyes soft as she looked at Rebecca. "It's too late to worry about that. Sheriff Gulager knows who I really am. He had to restrain himself from calling me by my real name."

"Then why did he just try to drive you out of town like that?"

Cheryl answered, "Gulager may be working with The Order to get more money, just like Young, but he doesn't like them. He's afraid he'll get caught, and so he doesn't want me anywhere near him or Black Falls. And even if he did make me leave, he or another agent of The Order would keep tabs on me no matter where I went now."

Rebecca felt dread...there was no denying it. The Order _had_ to know Cheryl was here. Rebecca almost groaned, "Oh, that's just great!"

Then Rebecca felt a soft yet firm hand gently close over one of hers...Cheryl's eyes might have been heavy with a history of sorrow and terrors yet unknowable to Rebecca, but there was a light of determination in those eyes, too. "Rebecca, they may know I'm here..._but they can't know that we know that, too!_ Wouldn't you call that an advantage?"

The BSAA agent looked at Cheryl for a long moment and smiled. "Yeah...yeah, I would." Her eyes became full of worry again as she quickly added, "But you're still taking a huge chance, girl - !"

"Maybe, but I don't care." Cheryl looked down as she held Rebecca's hand, and there so much strength in her soft voice. So much resolve. "I don't want them to hurt anyone else. I want to be free of them. I have to stop them once and for all, and I will."

Cheryl felt Rebecca's hand softly squeeze her own...the brunette said, "We will, Cheryl. Remember you're not alone anymore."

There was warm, quiet silence for a moment as they looked at each other.

Slowly, reluctantly, Cheryl let go of Rebecca's hand as she said, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm pooped."

Rebecca smiled and nodded. "Me, too. Gulager mentioned that bed and breakfast...?"

"It's not far away. The Order's strength is that no one knows about them, and we should be all right as long as we're in public places. We can split a room there, if you want."

"Okay, and that sounds good. I've never been to a bed and breakfast before." Rebecca had stayed at motels to sleep since she began her journey from Washington, D.C. to Maine to Vermont by motorcycle. "I'll bet it's a lot like staying at another friend's house for a sleepover. You know, like in high school?"

Cheryl Mason shrugged and said flatly, "I wouldn't know. I've never been to a sleepover."

Rebecca Chambers smiled warmly. "Me, either...but it's not too late, Cheryl."  
**  
-3-  
**  
As he drove away from the women, Sheriff James Gulager got out a cell phone and speed-dialed an important number. Indeed, he didn't like his secret employers...he didn't like them since they approached him months ago. But they offered a lot of money, and he liked the idea of spending the rest of his days in what he thought of as a thankless job even less. He connected to the person he needed to talk to and he didn't wait for them to say hello. Gulager got into it with a gruff tone: "It's me. We just got a wrinkle in the situation."

A smooth, measured voice said, "Tell me, Sheriff."

"Cheryl Mason isn't alone anymore. Someone arrived in town to meet her."

"Who?"

Gulager glanced at his computer screen as he drove...on it was the photo and information on the lady who wouldn't back down from him just before. "This lady from the BSAA, Rebecca Chambers. I'm looking at her file on my computer now. She's more of a PhD than some anti-terrorist agent, but she's had quite a history."

"I see. Rest assured, this changes nothing. Things will still proceed as I've planned tomorrow."

"Maybe before tomorrow you can finally tell me what that plan is?" Gulager's voice had become thin with irritation.

"Be patient, Sheriff. You'll receive a call later tonight at your home with instructions. You will also receive a delivery before morning light tomorrow. You'll know what to do with it."

Gulager's hand on the steering wheel suddenly gripped it tight. "Is that a fact." He tried to keep focus on the traffic ahead and behind as he spoke, but it was difficult. "Reeve, I haven't had a reason to argue with you...hell, I don't care about that crap you keep saying about your God and whatever Paradise you think's gonna happen. But remember I'm sticking my neck out for you here. You promised me a lot, but you insist on not saying a damn thing about what this so-called plan of yours is. I don't even have a clue why that Mason girl is so important to you."  
**  
-4-  
**  
Somewhere in Black Falls. In an office where the only illumination was a single lamp, which sat on a desk where a man known as Reeve sat as he spoke into his phone... "I told you before it's for your own protection you know as little as possible, remember? I understand if your peace of mind is bothered, Sheriff, but rest assured. If you play your part, you won't just reap a worldly profit. For your services, true glory shall be yours, just as it will be for all of the faithful." The man's face was in shadow, but one his pale hands fell into the illumination of the lamp to rest on a thick black book. On its hard cover was a blood-red seal...dominant in its design were three circles arranged in the configuration of an inverted triangle.

This was the Halo of the Sun, the symbol of the Church of the Holy Way.

He heard Gulager say, "That's nice. For your good and mine, though, maybe we ought to make a few changes, just in case. We've got a counter-terror agent involved, and there's no such thing as being too careful."

Seemingly unbothered, Reeve sighed, "And if need be, she will be dealt with in the same way certain other elements must be. In fact, you may be asked to do something about this Rebecca Chambers, Sheriff." A visitor entered the office as Reeve spoke. He was a tall and thin, dressed in black. He was bald, and his eyes were covered by sunglasses. It wasn't possible to guess how old this individual was, or even to determine his mood. His expression was stiff and neutral as he approached Reeve, his steps soundless on the crimson carpet.

Gulager quickly said, "You're going to have to pay me something extra for _that_, you understand?"

"We never know how much is demanded of us until the time comes to give, Sheriff. Was there anything else?"

"No, that's it."

"Then good night, Sheriff." Reeve hung up the phone, and then he stood as the bald visitor stopped a few paces away from the desk. Reeve's face was was still mostly shrouded by shadow...but the new arrival's black suit seemed to make him _part_ of that darkness. The man known as Reeve spread his hands and bowed before the bald visitor.

His head low, Reeve said ominously, "Events are unfolding well. Tomorrow, the time will come. The Mother of God will be ours again...and this world will finally be delivered to Paradise."  
**  
-5-  
**  
Rebecca and Cheryl reached the humble yet beautiful two-story house that served as an inn on Koontz Avenue driving their motorcycle and old Ford, respectively. They parked next to each other in two of the lot's few free spaces. Cheryl got her loaded .45 from her car's glove compartent and stuck it into the beltline of her jeans under her jacket, then got out and took a couple of gym bags from the big trunk which held changes of clothes, a first aid kit, and several boxes of .45 Long Colt bullets for her gun. Rebecca's motorcycle was customized to have a couple of secret compartments under two of the aerodynamic panels, one for use during extended travel and the other for emergency situations. She accessed the one for travel and got out a humble duffel bag that had a couple of changes of clothes. The other compartment she left alone...she didn't need to get into it, and hoped she wouldn't have to at some point.

The bed and breakfast was still open, in case of any evening customers looking to stay in one of the few available rooms for the night, as Gulager said...the owners were a kind middle-aged couple who were as friendly as their place was charming in that classic New England way. Stepping into the place was like going back in time to an old-fashioned, more innocent era. When the couple offered a service to the ladies that they can have their clothes cleaned and ironed overnight and brought to their room in the morning, Rebecca cheerfully agreed...she wasn't a clothes horse, and she'd only gotten into town; a change of clothes wasn't necessary in her mind yet. Cheryl felt differently and said no.

The couple said they could have their breakfasts brought to their room at 8 in the morning, and the brunette quickly said yes, eager to try it...her moody blonde companion was silent on the subject.

Rebecca and Cheryl entered their second floor room, and the petite government agent couldn't help but gush, "Oh, it's so pretty!" And it was, its distinctive style truly sumptuous in comparison to, say, a Holiday Inn. The bed alone, its mattress at first glance as thick as a stuntman's air bag, was especially inviting with its plush pillows and beautifully embroidered covers. Illumination was offered by the soft glow of old-fashioned butane lamps. (There were electric lights, of course, but they were innocuously high on the walls and at strategic places throughout the inn in case of an emergency.)

Cheryl's opinion, though, was much more subdued. She said, "Every night I've been here, I felt like I broke into someone else's bedroom."

Rebecca turned to her, her smile beaming. She said, "Hey, it's ours for tonight, at least. Let's get comfortable!"

"Sure. Just as long as I never find out how many people slept in that bed..."

They took turns showering in the bathroom...Rebecca went first. As she tried to get comfortable like her companion said, Cheryl got out her .45, double-checked the weapon, and put it into one of her gym bags with some of her clothes. She then traded places with Rebecca after the brunette was done with her shower.

Not much later, Cheryl exited the bathroom wearing another unbuttoned flannel shirt with a slightly different color pattern over her t-shirt and panties. Her damp blonde hair wasn't combed quite right. In fact, her hair hadn't been cut well either, but right after the shower it was clearly noticeable. Before, one would have thought she drove all day with her window down, or some other reason for her hair being sort of unkempt. In spite of that, her beauty had increased in some ways as she tried to relax.

Rebecca, meanwhile, was there sitting on the bed patiently, and her short, styled hair didn't change in look much. She had gained a pixie-like quality to her as she was dressed only in a guest's robe that looked too big for her to wear. Her clean, lovely face was just as attractive without any makeup. Rebecca smiled and said, "Hey!"

Cheryl nodded. "'Hey', yourself," she said lightly. But she still didn't smile.

Rebecca did her best to not let that annoy her as she asked, "Is it okay to see your gun? I'm just curious."

Cheryl nodded. "Sure. It's in the bag closest to you." She pointed to where her two bags laid on the floor next to the bed, not far from Rebecca's bare feet.

"Thanks," Rebecca said, and her smile got even brighter...Cheryl wondered how that could be possible. She also wondered how long it would take before the brunette's natural good cheer got under her skin. _Probably not much longer_, Cheryl thought in a non-cheerful way.

Then Rebecca had the Colt .45 Peacemaker in one of her slender hands...it almost looked too big for her to hold, but only almost. The single-action gun was a stainless steel beast with a heavy frame and classic design that made it unforgettable for those who saw it in enough Hollywood Westerns. In fact, Rebecca briefly thought back to when she was still a child and she loved sitting with her parents as they all watched John Wayne movies, and she remembered that outside of four Westerns in which he didn't meet the best of ends, The Duke always beat the bad guys, saved the girl and won the day. This Peacemaker, however, wasn't an antique...it was mostly based on the 1873 design, but it was a modern weapon with refinements like improved rifling in its barrel to make it as accurate as it had to be in the new millenium.

Rebecca Chambers' smile faltered only slightly when she thought of Sheriff Gulager, and she knew he was the kind of guy John Wayne would have punched in the mouth out of general principle. Then the agent's smile was gone like quicksilver...her face took a very serious set as her training and professional experience with many firearms took hold. She smoothly opened the cylinder, took out the bullets, and inspected the weapon carefully. Cheryl watched as Rebecca's petite form took on a Weaver stance as she held the empty gun like she was aiming down a target range, and she was a striking sight...a nearly waif-like young woman - she reminded Cheryl of a young Winona Ryder with really short hair - in an overflowing white robe with a huge six-shooter firmly in her right hand as she looked down its sights.

Then Rebecca visibly relaxed, moved to Cheryl and gave her .45 and shells back...her bright smile returned as she said, "That's a very nice gun, Cheryl. Where did you learn to shoot?"

Cheryl took back the gun and said, with self-conscious quiet, "Douglas taught me a few things. I really started learning through experience."

"You mean when The Order came looking for you and your dad...?"

Cheryl frowned as she nodded and finished reloading the .45.

In a couple of minutes, they were sitting on the bed with their legs crossed. Rebecca's attention was fixed completely on Cheryl as she said, "You told me your mom was the cult's high priestess when Harry took you from her. What happened to Dahlia?"

Cheryl answered with very little emotion, "She's dead. She was killed when dad rescued me."

From what Cheryl told her about Dahlia, that was no great loss. "So The Order had a new leader by the time they went after you again?"

Cheryl nodded. "When I was young in Silent Hill, I had only one real friend. Her name was Claudia, and she had powers, too. We connected so easily, and she promised we'd be like sisters forever." Cheryl's expression began to falter. "But...time can change people. After Harry rescued me she was suddenly alone, and The Order was all she had. Claudia grew to care about her beliefs more than she did for her promise she'd always love me. Anyway, she became the cult's leader, and she wanted me to be the Mother of God, too." Growing grief began to overcome her beautiful face. "Claudia was the one who hired Douglas Cartland to find me. She..." Cheryl Mason barely managed to finish, "...she was the one who had my dad killed."

Cheryl began to cry again, and openly, and the terrible loss of her father overwhelmed her...but she wasn't alone. Rebecca was there, and she carefully drew close and her arms slowly reached out to take hold of Cheryl as she whispered, "Come here...come here..." Gently offering, giving the blonde as much freedom as she wanted to say no. But Cheryl didn't move, she simply surrendered and sobbed heavily as she felt Rebecca's warm, soothing arms hold her. Rebecca stayed silent, but felt her own tears fall down her cheeks as she tried with all her heart to comfort the girl. Unmeasured time passed as they stayed that way on the bed...eventually, slowly, Cheryl began to calm...her tears began to subside as Rebecca held her.

Then...Rebecca Chambers had one of the most amazing experiences of her life. If any part of her doubted that Cheryl Mason had powers, those doubts disappeared _as she heard the blonde girl's thoughts in her own mind_. It was truly unique for Rebecca to hear Cheryl's disembodied voice speak within her very being: _"Rebecca...even after I lost my dad, as I fought for my life, as I fought to stop those bastards from hurting anyone else...I found the strength to forgive Claudia. She'd turned into a cold-blooded zealot, just like Dahlia...but I forgave her. I stopped her, but in the end Claudia tried to be the Mother of God herself. It...it didn't go well, and she died."_

As Rebecca quietly absorbed that, Cheryl gently began to pull from Rebecca's embrace...the brunette softly let the blonde go. Cheryl remained very close as she looked into Rebecca's eyes, her cheeks wet with tears, and her full lips parted to speak. "After that...I found Douglas and we left Silent Hill."

Rebecca couldn't help but look at Cheryl with fondness and wonder. In spite of her own wet cheeks, the brunette smiled again comfortingly and asked, "Before...before all of that happened, was life any better for you after Harry got you out of Silent Hill? I mean, just for instance, how were things in high school?"

Cheryl's moody expression became brighter with rememberance and adoration as she wiped her tears from her cheeks. Her voice was soft as she thought of Harry Mason. "My dad made me feel loved all the time, Rebecca. No girl could have asked for a better father, ever." She almost bit her lower lip as she looked away lamely and said in a very different tone, "_Outside_ of home was a very different story, especially high school! I was always the awkward girl. The loner. I didn't feel like I could relate to anyone. I mean I was friendly to other kids, but...I never got to be _friends_ with anyone." Cheryl looked back at Rebecca with a curious gaze. "I'll bet you must have felt alone, too."

Rebecca frowned softly. "Me?"

"You are the prodigy, right? How hard of a time did you have in high school?"

"Oh, I was..." Rebecca reflexively frowned a little more as she looked down and finished, "...I was okay." She still remembered the bullies. The pranksters.

Cheryl's expression was a knowing one. "Uh-huh. When did you graduate from high school?"

Rebecca looked into Cheryl's eyes again. "I was just thirteen. You want to talk about awkward, I went straight to college _the same year_. Forget about having anything in common with jocks and divas who wanted to party half the time! I could only relate to geeks like me."

"Nobody tried to hit on you?" Cheryl suddenly winced and said, "Oh, wait. You said you graduated from college when you were 18...!"

Rebecca nodded lamely. "Yeah. I never had a chance to have anyone hit on me. I was a tomboy too, and that was like the cherry on top of it all. I was a really late bloomer when it came to looking the way I do now."

Cheryl raised her eyebrows, curious. "How late?"

Rebecca smiled a little. "A few years after college and Raccoon City. When I saw in the mirror one day how much I was changing, I just went all-out." The brunette laughed then. "I loved the idea of being pretty! But these days, it's no big deal."

Cheryl gazed at Rebecca and said, "You are beautiful, Rebecca."

Extra color bloomed in Rebecca's pale cheeks as she smiled and said humbly, "Thanks."

"It's not hard to picture you being like me."

Rebecca gave her a look. "Huh?"

"Well, I'm a tomboy. I don't like makeup at all..."

Rebecca smiled brighter and said with feeling, "So what? You still look great, Cheryl!"

Cheryl gave Rebecca a dubious look. "Oh, come on."

"I wouldn't say this if it wasn't the truth, honey." Rebecca then gave Cheryl a level gaze as she said, making sure there was no misunderstanding: "You! Are! Beautiful!"

Cheryl blushed then too, and brightly. She looked down and almost, _almost_ smiled. Rebecca thought, _Aw, come on!_ Cheryl said, "Th-thank you..."

"But! There's just one thing..."

Cheryl nodded and sighed, "I knew it!" Like she was expecting bad news to go with the good. She gave Rebecca a look and asked, "Let me guess, I still need a new face?"

Rebecca mock-scolded, "Stop that! Are you always so lazy with your hair?"

Cheryl looked at Rebecca with surprise. "What's wrong with my hair?"

"Nothing, except it looks like a blind man cut and combed it."

"Oh, that's all?"

Rebecca reassured, "Really, that's all! But I don't get it."

Cheryl looked at Rebecca for a long beat before she finally said, very self-conscious, "I...I've got this fear of mirrors."

"Oh."

"I've been afraid of them for the longest time. I-it's not worth talking about." Cheryl said, a little brighter, "You know blonde isn't my natural color, right?"

"Yeah, Douglas told me your hair is really black. You've been making it blonde for the longest time." Rebecca gave Cheryl a curious look. "I'd like to see you in your natural color one day."

"We'll see," Cheryl said softly.

"Do you have any other phobias?"

Cheryl shrugged and said, "Only of scumbags who want to use me and destroy the world. That's pretty much it."

Still so close together as they sat on the bed, one of Rebecca's hands drifted to gently lay over one of Cheryl's. "You won't have any reason to be afraid of them for much longer, Cheryl."

Cheryl felt her touch, and she looked into Rebecca's eyes. She felt so warm, so grateful. "I believe you, Rebecca. It means so much you believe me..."

Rebecca nodded softly. "That won't change. I swear."

Sudden pain flooded Cheryl's lovely face...she almost whispered, "That's what Claudia said." Rebecca felt Cheryl's hand shift and hold hers. "I-I have been alone for so long...I was wrong to think I could fight The Order myself. You being here now...you being here means more than I can say. Just...please, we need to trust each other. We need to believe in each other if we..."

Rebecca's hand held Cheryl's tightly as she said, "I do trust you, Cheryl. I do believe in you, and you can believe in me. Everything will be okay."

They both looked at each other...into each other's eyes.

Have you ever met someone, and it felt so perfectly, wondrously right? When you were close to them, did the world suddenly feel like a warmer, better place? When you looked into their eyes, you felt like you could trust them completely, just as they felt they could place their trust in you? If so, did you wonder why in the hell it took so long to find that person? Like you had known them your entire life, and you wished with all your heart you met them sooner?

In that moment, Cheryl Mason and Rebecca Chambers felt those things...for each other.

As they sat there and held hands, gazing into one another's eyes, what they felt made them draw closer to each other...drawn slowly together by a force more primal and powerful than gravity...it was like the rest of the world faded away -

Suddenly, Rebecca cleared her throat and began to blush. She said softly, "Cheryl..."

Cheryl's voice was almost a whisper. "Yeah...?"

And Rebecca Chambers' expression broke into pure, adorable embarrassment...her entire body tensed up as she said, "Uhm, I really-really-really hate to ask this, but I need to go to the bathroom! I-it just hit me, and - !"

Cheryl Mason nodded quickly and almost smiled again. Almost. "Go on, it's okay!"

Gratefully yet lamely, Rebecca's hand pulled from Cheryl's as she got out of bed. She moved quickly to the bathroom as she said, "Thank you, I'm really really sorry, excuse me!" Then she closed the door behind her.

In the bathroom: Rebecca sat on the toilet, and the relief she felt from peeing didn't ease how foolish she felt. She'd pulled up the lower part of her robe up to her waist before she sat down, and she leaned forward covering her face in her hands. She groaned, "Me and my dumb bladder!" She finally looked up, and being alone at the moment, she really felt strange not being with Cheryl.

Rebecca bit her lower lip, unsure. What she felt just before...for Cheryl...it felt so right. It was wonderful just to be with her. Did Cheryl feel the same way?

Rebecca had to wonder...but she suddenly felt anxiety, as well.

Did she want to know the answer?

Finally Rebecca finished, flushed, and washed her hands at the sink. She saw that Cheryl had covered the mirror above the sink with a big towel...Cheryl was serious about her fear of mirrors. But Rebecca remembered there was so much that Cheryl said that didn't fit, wasn't quite right. There was so much she didn't say. Or...maybe Rebecca needed to ask the right questions?

But when Rebecca came back into the bedroom, she saw she'd have to wait until later to ask anything more. Cheryl was lying on her side on the bed, and she was sound asleep. Rebecca turned down the lamps, and the room slowly became dark...her eyes adjusted quickly and she moved to the bed and got on the mattress, as well.

Rebecca got on her side too to face Cheryl...and she couldn't help but smile as she watched Cheryl's relaxed, sleeping face. She felt that wonderful feeling just being with Cheryl again, and she didn't want it to go away. One of the blonde's hands was lying limply on the mattress between them, seeming to offer itself to Rebecca.

Rebecca took Cheryl's hand carefully in hers, not wanting to wake her up.

It truly did feel so right.

Rebecca Chambers looked at Cheryl Mason's sleeping face and said softly, "I promise I won't fail you." The brunette closed her eyes as she held the blonde's hand. Then...they were both asleep on this quiet summer evening.

This was only the beginning.  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 is here, my friends...Rebecca and Cheryl continue their investigation as Black Falls hosts the County Fair - it seems a fun holiday weekend is about to start, right? But no one has ANY idea what's already been set in motion as more characters are brought into the story. And get ready, you veteran RESIDENT EVIL fans, you'll bear witness to the reunion of Claire Redfield and Sherry Birkin!**

**I hope you RE fans will continue to bear with me...not much has ever been said about the history of many of our favorite characters of that series. I therefore took it upon myself to be creative and fill some of those blanks, as you'll continue to see with our favorite medic, Rebecca Chambers, and the first lady of SILENT HILL, Cheryl Mason. Another question I've always wondered was what kind of family did Chris and Claire Redfield come from? Was their toughness passed down to them? Since Capcom never gave them (and others) more complete backstories, you'll see what I imagined for myself!**

**Also, what happened to Jill Valentine after RE5, and where the heck was she during RE6, when Chris was going through so much? Again I used my imagination, and here you'll find out!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**CHAPTER 4:**

**"GOOD FRIDAY..."**

**-1-**

**Friday, August 30, 2013**  
**The Redfield Ranch**  
**Colorado Springs, Colorado**

**Inevitably, the stage had to widen...it wasn't just Cheryl Mason and Rebecca Chambers who had incredibly important roles to play.**

For now, we shift our focus to one extraordinary woman who was sleeping in her bedroom in the main house of her family's cattle ranch. The spread was much larger than its nearest competitors, and still going strong with over 10,000 head of cattle to be managed at a given time. The strength of the operation, in spite of a slowly recovering economy, was a testament to the determination and never-say-die attitude of over four generations of the family who owned it.. But to really understand the ingrained strength the Redfields possessed, one simply had to meet the children of the current owner of the ranch, John Redfield, and his wife Maureen.

Claire Redfield slept soundly in her bed in the quiet dark of her bedroom, even though she had been through things that would have given more timid souls persistent nightmares. She had come home to spend a brief couple of weeks away from her work for TerraSave, an international organization that provided medical and political support to the victims of bioterrorism. They had their hands full, to say the least, helping people in the wake of the recent C-Virus epidemic. Claire needed a break from the constant work which showed no signs of slowing down for at least another year...she needed some quiet time, moments to refocus and put things in perspective. She felt the best place to do it was on the family ranch, with her dad and mom; while she was here, though, she was expected to do her part like everyone else on the spread. Claire didn't mind at all...compared to the daunting task TerraSave had undertaken, to help so many victims of the C-Virus across the world, working on a cattle ranch was positively relaxing.

Claire and her brother Chris had long ago taken different paths away from their family's business, something their father didn't completely approve of. Understandably, John hoped one day to leave the ranch to his kids, to not only keep it in the family but to ensure the family's future prosperity. Still, he and Maureen felt above all the most elemental of love for Chris and Claire...and they were amazed by the terrors the brother and sister survived in their lives.

On this early Friday morning, like her mom and dad, Claire Redfield slept soundly. She was beyond any concerns or desires. Or regrets.

And then her bedside phone rang at 3:17 a.m.

It only took two rings before Claire turned in bed, reached out and turned on the lamp...the same hand (reluctantly) picked up the phone and pulled it to her ear. "Mmnnn...hello?"

A voice she instantly recognized spoke into her ear: "Claire? It's Leon."

Just like that, Claire snapped to full awareness. She smiled and said, "Oh, hi! How are you?" She couldn't feel anything but warmth for Leon S. Kennedy, one of the dearest friends she had ever known, the man who helped her survive Raccoon City fifteen years ago. Then she realized how early it was. She quickly added, "Be advised you lose points for calling me so early!"

"I'm sorry, Claire, but I wouldn't be call like this if it wasn't important," Leon said. "I need to ask this a certain way, since this line is unsecure. Remember I promised I'd tell you the moment I knew where you can find a...certain someone?"

Suddenly, the beautiful brunette sat up in her bed, completely and fully awake. She knew exactly what the man meant. She looked into the dark with wide eyes. "Yes, I remember! Oh please, Leon, did you...?!" She was afraid to finish her words, to give voice to a hope she held in her heart for too damned long.

"Yeah, thanks to a friendly tip. She's in Berlin, Germany right now. She'll be there until tonight."

Claire almost breathed, "Berlin..."

"I also have her schedule, too. You'd better get a pencil and paper."

"O-okay!" She opened a drawer of the bedstand and got out a memo pad and pencil. "Go ahead!" In less than a minute Leon gave her the information she needed, and she wrote it down furiously. So full of emotion, not knowing whether to laugh or cry or both, Claire said in a voice choked with feeling, "Leon, thank you, _thank you so much!_ I can't even tell you what this means to me..."

Claire almost felt Leon smile. "You don't have to. I already know. I know you'll want to go as soon as possible. I'll book a flight to Berlin for you while you're getting ready."

Leon was right...Claire was ready to drop literally everything to fly to Berlin immediately. If she had a chance, even a small chance to finally reunite with someone she'd yearned to see again for years, she wasn't going to lose it! But she was surprised by Leon's offer and she asked, "Y-you'd do that for me?"

Leon reminded her, "I work for the President of the United States, my friend...I can do a lot of things."

Claire and Leon spoke for another few minutes before they ended their conversation...they regularly contacted each other in one way or the other since the Harvardville crisis several years ago that was begun by Curtis Miller, an obsessed, violent man who ultimately degenerated into a monster. The last time they talked, almost a month ago, was when Leon told Claire about his surprise encounter with that 'certain someone'...Sherry Birkin, who survived Raccoon City's destruction with them. Chris had also met the girl just before the terrible events in Eastern Europe last Christmas, events that turned her brother into a amnesiac for months. Chris very recently reconnected with his family, much to their relief, and finally told Claire about his own brief meetings with Sherry, as well.

Claire finally hung up her phone...Leon said he'd call back in a few minutes to let her know which airline he'd booked tickets for her at Denver International Airport. But Claire sat on her bed, looking into the dark, and she lifted her hands to her chin almost in a gesture of prayer. She thought, _Oh Sherry, to see you after so long...finally...!_ She couldn't help but flash back to that late September of 1998, when she arrived in Raccoon City one horrible night. She was looking for Chris, who had disappeared to go on an unofficial hunt for evidence to bring the Umbrella Corporation down for illegal bio-weapons research outside of town, which led to so many deaths of innocent people, including the loss of most of his fellow S.T.A.R.S. members, two months earlier.

But the events in the forest, even the infamous Mansion Incident, were simply a grim prelude to the apocalyptic nightmare Claire Redfield literally rode into on her motorcycle that night at the end of September. State and federal agencies were still in motion at the time, catching up to the fact that an entire U.S. city became host to a viral epidemic unlike anything imagined outside of a Roger Corman movie. By the time Claire and the rest of the world realized what happened to Raccoon City, it was too late. Fortunately, she met Leon S. Kennedy, then a rookie cop who had also just arrived in town. Together they began an amazing journey of survival within the flaming, decimated city.

Miraculously, Claire also found a lone, twelve-year-old blonde girl named Sherry Birkin.

Sherry Birkin's plight at the time was one Cheryl Mason would have understood perfectly. Sherry desperately wanted love...the love of her own parents, William and Annette Birkin, Umbrella scientists who were more dedicated to their viral research than to their only daughter. The hellish crisis was partly their fault, and they were both finally consumed by it. Annette died and William transformed into a nightmare creature that sought to reproduce by implanting an embryo in Sherry. It became a race against time for Claire and Leon to not only survive but to heal a little girl dealt a terrible hand by fate. Sherry was saved by an anti-viral agent that voided the embryo from her system...the girl was also incredibly brave and resourceful in her own right, and together the three escaped Raccoon City before it was eradicated by a low-yield nuclear strike executed by the U.S. government to stop the outbreak from spreading any further.

Afterward, Sherry was taken into custody by intelligence interests within the government...this in spite of the fact Sherry had bonded so deeply with Claire, and neither of them were happy about it. However, placing the girl in a form of protective custody and kept secret was done for what seemed to be understandable reasons. After Claire assisted her brother and Leon in gathering evidence against the Umbrella Corporation three months later, though, she didn't let anything stop her from visiting Sherry on a regular basis. (Again, a testament to the strength of Claire and her family.)

Years passed, and for better or worse, life happened. Very slowly at first, they began to grow apart. Claire's visits to Sherry steadily became less and less frequent because of her activist work. Those visits had to change to correspondence by letters eight years ago, when the blonde girl turned 18. Sherry then agreed to to work for the government in 2009, but because Sherry's letters to Claire were so tightly monitored by her legal guardian Derek Simmons, Claire never knew what kind of work the girl had been recruited for!

But Sherry Birkin, in all of her letters, never seemed to lose her spirit...she truly wanted to work for a higher purpose. To serve her country. To help people in the same way she had been helped by her hero, Claire Redfield. Claire could never question that, and the love they shared ever since Raccoon City could never, ever fade. Their last letters sent to each other, unfortunately, were about two years ago...and then there was no response from Sherry at all. Either she had taken on clandestine duties where she couldn't communicate with civilians...or she wasn't allowed to.

And only recently, finally, Claire found out why: Sherry Birkin had become a covert agent for the Division of Security Operations.

On her bed, Claire began to cry, again feeling the aching loss in her soul...the great regret of not being there for Sherry.

For the first time in too long, the hope she always held to see that precious girl again burned brightly.

Claire Redfield broke from her sadness when Leon called again to let her know which flight she'd been booked for, and then she began to move fast so she wouldn't be late.  
**  
-2-  
**  
About four hours later, as the sun slowly rose in the east, Claire Redfield was well on her way to Berlin. At the same time, much much further south, Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance Lieutenant Jill Valentine was en route to Washington, D.C. on a C-130 Hercules military transport. Many of her colleagues were with her and in high spirits because of the positive conclusion of their work in Mexico City distributing the C-Virus vaccine to those who needed it.

But Jill might as well have been alone, and the expression on her beautiful face was thoughtful...her eyes serious.

She thought of Rebecca Chambers and the increasing tension between that sweet girl and a man she owed her life to...a man she fought with and would have gladly died for.

Jill finally came to a decision and made a call...she hoped to catch the lady she wanted to talk to before she left her home in Georgetown to go to work.

After one ring, she got an answer. Sheva Alovar, a fellow operative in the BSAA, spoke: "Hello?"

"Sheva, it's Jill!"

"Hi, Jill! Are you on your way back?"

"Yeah..." Jill Valentine frowned. "...but we have to talk. I'll need your help when I get to Washington." The veteran survivor hesitated for only a moment before she said, "You know as well as I do about Rebecca having trouble with Chris..."  
**  
-3-**

**Black Falls, Vermont**

It was about 8:30 that morning when Rebecca Chambers and Cheryl Mason were phoned by one of the inn's staff and asked if they were ready for a classic, New England style breakfast. They were still dressed as they were when they woke up not long before, and Rebecca was full of her characteristic cheer when she told them, "Bring it up anytime, please!" Cheryl seemed not to care less...she smoked a cigarette at an open window as they waited for their food, quiet in her lonely way as she leaned on its sill...she looked outside at the green suburban area outside as she blew smoke into the open air. In spite of Cheryl's silence, Rebecca's feelings for the blonde could only grow. There was so much the brunette needed to know, but every time she gazed at the beautiful blonde and felt her quiet strength...any questions she had didn't matter so much. They still talked a little before their breakfasts were brought to them by the matronly woman who was the inn's co-owner with her husband. The food was as delicious as it looked, and it looked outstanding.

It certainly helped Cheryl's mood as they ate. She suddenly said, "Rebecca."

Rebecca quickly looked up at Cheryl as she was chewing on a big bite of pancakes...her cheeks were puffed like a chipmunk's. "Hm?"

Cheryl waited until Rebecca swallowed before she asked, "You never got to tell me. Why did a smart girl like you want to be a cop?"

"Oh!" Rebecca quickly took a sip of orange juice and wiped her mouth with a napkin before she answered. "Sorry. While I was in college, when I'd focused on medicine and chemistry, I thought I'd want to be a doctor or a chemist. Mom and dad wanted that, too. But..." She frowned a little as she remembered. "...as I got closer to my 18th birthday and college graduation - in that order! - it got to where I wasn't so sure anymore. My dad's a retired sheriff of this small town upstate from Raccoon City, and a part of me always wanted to know what it was like to be in his shoes."

Rebecca's frown shifted to a soft smile as she reclined into her seat, relaxed and fully opening herself to Cheryl. "Dad told me stories all the time about what happened to him while he was sheriff, and it kind of rubbed off on me. Deep down I wanted to enforce the law, protect good folks from the bad, and that need only got stronger over time. No cops and robbers fantasties, you know? No hunting for glory or fame. I just wanted to help people. So a couple of weeks before I graduated, I heard about S.T.A.R.S. in Raccoon City looking for a new medic for their unit, and I had to go for it."

Cheryl was leaning forward, resting on her elbows on the table top, as she listened...she was completely into Rebecca as she asked, "How did your parents react?"

Rebecca looked down awkwardly, but she didn't lose her smile. "They thought I lost my mind! I think I would have shocked them less if I said I wanted to be a nun!" Rebecca bit her lower lip, and Cheryl felt so warm because the brunette was so beautiful, within and without. So sweetly innocent as she looked into the blonde's eyes again. "But after graduation, after I was accepted by S.T.A.R.S., mom and dad said they were so proud of me. All that mattered to them was that nothing happened to me. Mom was the most worried, of course. She had lost count how many late nights dad worked, and she always waited for him to come home..."

"Are your mom and dad okay?"

Rebecca Chambers nodded as she felt so much love for her parents. "Yep, they're still going strong in retirement." She added, self-consciously, "And they're still worried about me."

Cheryl Mason's expression was solemn as she said, "I envy you, Rebecca." She truly did.

After they ate, they had their clothes returned to them from yesterday, fully washed. It didn't take long for Rebecca to dress in her crimson tank top, black slacks and opera-style gloves, which was mildly daring in the eyes of New England's old-fashioned. Cheryl hadn't changed the mostly anonymous clothes she wore either, except she exchanged her white t-shirt for a sleeveless black tee to wear under her flannel shirt. The moody blonde was still so beautiful in Rebecca's eyes.

At about 10 o'clock, Rebecca and Cheryl went downstairs to check out. Rebecca asked the couple who owned the bed and breakfast about Doctor Burton Young, who had moved from Silent Hill to Black Falls in the 1970's - just before that quiet town in Maine ceased to exist - and since became one of the area's most beloved citizens. The middle-aged husband and wife informed them they went to get their checkups from Young every year, and no one could find a kinder and more generous doctor. Most of those who lived in Black Falls, they said, would have been more than happy to give their testimonials about the man. Rebecca wondered how dramatically that would change if they knew everything she and Cheryl knew.

The husband offered, "If you want to talk to Doctor Young, today's going to be a bit busier than usual for the man. He's going to be helping set up the clinic and first aid stations at the County Fair when it starts at noon."

The wife said with praise, "Young does it every year to make sure fairgoers can get help right away if they have an accident while having fun, Heaven forbid."

Rebecca asked, "How long should he be there?"

"Just a couple of hours. Oh! We just got today's paper. Here..." The wife gave Rebecca a copy of the local tabloid. "It gives a whole list of things that'll happen at the fair for the whole weekend."

"Thanks! Maybe we can catch him while he's there."

"Oh gracious," the wife said, worried. "Are you or your friend sick or something?"

"Oh, no! We just need to talk to him about something important."

The husband had a dubious expression on his face. "Hm, if you two want to go to the fair for anything, it'll be best to start walking right now."

Rebecca frowned. "Why?"

"Rebecca!" The brunette turned to Cheryl, who was at the front door of the inn. She'd pulled back the lace curtain of the door and was looking outside its window...she looked back at Rebecca and said, "Just look outside and you'll see why."

Rebecca quickly moved to Cheryl and looked out the window, too. She breathed, "Holy crap!" The town's main street was choked with traffic in the direction toward the fairgrounds. The line of vehicles went back as far as the eye could see.

Cheryl said, "I know, right? Forget trying to drive to the fair."

The husband was there with them then, and he looked out with a mild expression. "Yep. Just as busy as last year."

The wife then approached them, too. She asked, "Are you both still parked in the back lot?"

Cheryl nodded. "Yes...?"

Rebecca quickly said, "We won't take up any spaces for anyone who's got a reservation today. Uh, where else can we park...?"

The husband shrugged. "People are going to find every possible open space for their cars in this town as the day goes. Only real place to go then is this grass field on the other side of the fairgrounds. That's where the rest of the visitors have to go."

The wife then gently said, "You two won't have to worry about that right away. Our first reservation today isn't until, oh, five in the afternoon. They might be later if the traffic keeps up like this!"

Cheryl and Rebecca looked at them hopefully. The blonde asked, "So...it's okay for us to stay parked on your lot until then?"

The husband shrugged again and smiled. "We don't see why not!"

Rebecca beamed at the couple and wanted to hug them both. "Thank you very much! I promise we'll be back before five o'clock, honest!"

They still exited out the back door of the inn so they could stow their stuff in their vehicles. The moment the back door closed, though, Cheryl Mason suddenly said, as if commenting on the weather: "By the way, someone has been outside since early this morning watching my car and your motorcycle."

"Wh - !" Rebecca Chambers halted dead in her tracks, stunned, and that made Cheryl stop too to look at her. The BSAA agent had the presence of mind to quickly recover her composure and keep her cool. However, Rebecca said with a little annoyance, "That's the second time in two days you told me something I could have known sooner!"

The moody blonde said, "Remember I can feel someone when they think of me, or their thoughts are directed toward me. It felt like whispers from a distance. Ugly whispers."

Rebecca looked worried. "It's one of The Order, isn't it?"

Cheryl nodded. "After you came into town to meet me, that had to get their interest. They had to start watching me sometime anyway, like Sheriff Gulager has been."

The brunette nodded. "Okay. Where are they?"

"Right across the street, parked on that lot." Cheryl then looked toward a hardware store's lot across the street from the back of the inn. "The white Oldsmobile station wagon." Rebecca didn't look directly at it, but on her periphery she couldn't help but see the white vehicle in the distance as it gleamed under the early morning sun.

"Okay, you've had more experience with these jerks. What should we do?"

Cheryl didn't look back at Rebecca before she said, "I'll show you."

And then Cheryl Mason boldly began to walk directly toward the station wagon from the back of the bed and breakfast, her eyes fixed on it completely. Rebecca Chambers' beautiful mouth almost dropped open. In a couple of moments Cheryl reached the end of the lot, then the sidewalk, and was about to cross the side street to the hardware store's lot. She never faltered on her direct course for the Olds.

The man who had been watching the inn most of that morning finally realized he'd been made; more than that, he was about to be confronted. He quickly put his wagon in gear...with a sudden squeal of its tires it drove quickly off the lot, made a right and went down the street. In less time than it took to tell, the unknown watcher was gone. Cheryl looked in the direction he left for a moment...after lighting a cigarette, she turned around and walked back to Rebecca. Cheryl said, "They don't like to attract attention to themselves. We're okay for now."

Rebecca had to wonder. "You're sure no one else is watching us?"

Cheryl nodded as smoke gently exhaled from her nose. "That won't last long."

"Okay. You didn't feel anyone watching us when we parked here?" Rebecca thought that they wouldn't have known where she and Cheryl would be this morning alone if it wasn't for Gulager, who suggested the ladies stay here for the night. It stood to reason he told The Order immediately after that.

Cheryl said, "No."

Rebecca nodded, feeling a little better. "You'd better give me your gun, Cheryl. While we have the chance, I'll keep it in my motorcycle in case any bad guy decides to search your car while you're away from it. They won't get far with my bike because they wouldn't know its secret compartments exist." They'd know even less about how to open them. "Your gun should be safe here."

Cheryl nodded, understanding. "I can't just carry my gun around, either. Here." Cheryl took her .45 Peacemaker out of her bag and gave it to Rebecca, who quickly knelt down next to her bike and opened one of its body panels to access the secret compartment on its right side. It only took a moment to secure the gun and then lock the compartment again. At least Rebecca still had her 9mm semi-auto in her handbag, and she had the federal authorization to carry a concealed weapon in any state. Cheryl mused, "I can still defend myself if I have to."

Rebecca stood and looked at her curiously. "You mean with your powers?"

Cheryl put her bag in her LTD's trunk and shut it before she looked at Rebecca again, and she shook her head. "I'm still scared of using my powers...really, _really_ using them, you know? I meant I know Karate."

The brunette was surprised. "Really? What belt?"

Cheryl shrugged. "I'm okay, just a First Degree Black Belt."

She said that so modestly, but Rebecca couldn't help but be impressed and smiled. "I'd call that better than 'okay', Cheryl!"

Cheryl truly was modest and reflexively looked down as she almost smiled again...her voice was soft as she said, "Thanks." Rebecca then swore in her thoughts that before the day was done, she'd make the blonde smile, one way or the other! If Cheryl heard Rebecca make that promise to herself, she gave no indication. Chery Mason asked, "So, are you ready?"

Rebecca Chambers smiled enthusiastically. "Yep! Let's check out the fair!"  
**  
-4-**

**Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance**  
**U.S. Division Headquarters**  
**Washington, D.C.**

A little after 11 o'clock, two visitors entered the office of Captian Chris Redfield unannounced...he didn't mind that because he knew and cared for them both deeply.

Both women marched straight to Chris' desk, pure business, and they were both fellow BSAA operatives. One was Sheva Alovar, who first met Chris four years ago. A naturalized American citizen, the exotic beauty returned to her birthplace in Africa and became partners with Chris to investigate bioterrorism there. They both discovered much, much more than they ever expected. Chris and Sheva relied on each other to survive one harrowing incident after another that led them to discover that Tricell, an international pharmaceutical corporation - and, in a dark twist of irony, one of the BSAA's biggest sponsors - was conducting terrible experiments on untold numbers of innocent people. Those experiments were for the sake of perfecting a supervirus, Ouroboros, that literally would have reached out to transform every human being on the planet. Chris and Sheva's pursuit of the truth finally led them to the man responsible, an evil yet brilliant madman who had been Chris Redfield's most hated enemy ever since the Mansion Incident in the forests outside of Raccoon City: former Umbrella genetic scientist and security chief Albert Wesker, who had also served as the leader of S.T.A.R.S. to keep tabs on local law enforcement, and then all but fed the special police unit to a host of bio-engineered terrors created by the T-Virus that fateful July in 1998.

The woman who accompanied Sheva was just as close to Chris...and intimately related to those events.

Jill Valentine had been one of the few survivors of S.T.A.R.S. to escape the forest mansion with Chris, Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers and Brad Vickers. As confident and resourceful as she was beautiful, Jill easily equaled Chris in terms of ability and bravery. She wanted to help him gather evidence and expose the Umbrella Corporation for their crimes, but the formidable lady was in Raccoon City at the time the G-Virus outbreak brought it to ruin. Jill did her very best to make a last-ditch escape, but was severely injured and infected. Her one source of salvation at the time came from an unexpected source: an Umbrella mercenary, Carlos Olivera, who got Jill a desperately-needed antivirus. Healed, Jill and Carlos worked together to reach Barry Burton, who got them out of Raccoon City just before it was destroyed by the government. Jill continued on her path to bring an end to Umbrella...along the way, Carlos was killed by agents of the corporation as they ruthlessly sought to terminate possible witnesses, destroy evidence and escape justice. But Carlos Olivera's death wasn't in vain...Umbrella's role in the destruction of Raccoon City and their criminal research became known to the world. The U.S. government took action to make the corporation collapse financially like a fragile house of cards.

Shortly after that, Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield founded the BSAA with the support of their country's government, the U.N. and lawful pharmaceutical corporations. In 2006, Jill and Chris confronted Albert Wesker for the first time in years. They both did their best to stop Wesker, but the battle ended with Jill seeming to fall to her death with the madman. Stunned by the loss of his dear friend, Chris tried to carry on, but he became bitter and constantly questioned whether he was accomplishing anything in his crusade to stop bioterrorism. Unknown to Chris, however, Jill Valentine was still alive.

Jill was kept against her will, tested and examined by Albert Wesker, who discovered the G-Virus hadn't fully been purged from her system...in fact, it established an equilibrium with her genetic structure, making her both immune to the virus and incapable of transmitting it. Wesker used the results of those tests to his advantage, toward the creation of Ouroboros. At the same time, the madman decided to use Jill, make her into an involuntary servant to his every command through a mind control serum constantly fed into her body by a profane mechanism surgically grafted to her chest. It was a terrible twist of fate that she became a tool for a criminal and murderer she had passionately sought to bring to justice, even if it cost her life. But what she lost was her true self and free will...Jill Valentine remained the servant of her greatest enemy for almost three years.

But it was in 2009 that all changed: Chris Redfield and Sheva Alovar relentlessly pursued Wesker, he took an unholy glee in using Jill Valentine against them. Chris was beyond shocked to see the lady was still alive, and even moreso that he and Sheva were forced to fight her. For a time, because of Jill's heightened abilities and strength, the outcome was in doubt...thankfully, Wesker didn't expect how far Chris and Sheva would risk themselves to save Jill, to tear the device that kept her under Wesker's control from her chest. Jill was finally free and became her true self again, and while she couldn't play a direct role in the end of Albert Wesker, she had the satisfaction of watching Chris and Sheva literally blast the madman to Hell with a couple of rocket-propelled grenades.

It went without saying that Chris, Jill and Sheva shared a primal bond.

But on this Friday morning, Sheva Alovar and Jill Valentine stopped in front of Chris Redfield's desk. They were both full of purpose. And they were both clearly unhappy. Chris didn't realize that at first as he stood behind his desk and smiled warmly. "Hi, you two."

Sheva regarded the man and said, in a cool tone, "Chris."

Jill sounded just as low in temperature as she nodded and said, in mirror to Sheva, "Chris."

Chris added, "Glad to see you back from Mexico City, Jill."

The women gave each other a glance. Jill fixed on Chris again and folded her arms under her bosom. "Oh, you won't feel that way in a minute."

The light finally dawned on Chris: the only one who was happy in that office at the moment was him. He gave them a confused look as he asked mildly, "Why do I suddenly feel like I'm about to be taken to the woodshed?"

Jill Valentine then answered his question. "We need to talk about Rebecca. Now."

Chris Redfield flinched a little, but he didn't give in any way as his expression hardened. He quickly sat back down behind his desk and began to say, "I'm a bit busy - !"

Sheva Alovar glared at him. "No, you are busy now, Chris!"

Chris glared back at them both. "Did Rebecca put you two up to this?!"

Jill said, "No. You did." Her unhappiness was giving way to legitimate anger towards the man, in spite of their history together.

Sheva put her hands on her hips...she felt indebted to Chris for helping her get justice against Tricell and Albert Wesker, but that didn't matter at the moment. "Chris, I haven't known Rebecca for as long as you and Jill have, but that sweet, darling girl is a friend to me, too. And she deserves better!"

Jill nodded and said quietly, "Amen."

Chris sighed in frustration as he hung his head low. "Okay, okay, there's no need to gang up on me!" But he looked up at them as he sought to defend his position in a dispute that was simply between him and Rebecca. "But you know as well as I do Rebecca's at her best in the research labs - !"

Sheva frowned and countered, "But she has always wanted more than that, Chris. That I also know!"

Jill knew that as well, and she continued to look hard at Chris. "And we wouldn't feel the need to 'gang up on you' if you hadn't promised Rebecca long ago she'd become a full field agent!"

Chris shot back, "I promised Rebecca she'd be in the field with the rest of us when she was ready! And as far as I'm concerned, _she still isn't ready!_"

Jill shook her head. "Why?! She passed her final excercises for combat and counter-terror ops! That was three years ago, not long after she formally joined us!"

Sheva looked at Chris with a slow burn. "If I remember correctly, she had virtually the same scores as I did. I suppose that means I shouldn't be in the field, either. What would you call our working so well together in the past, Chris? A freak accident?"

Chris flinched. "Sheva, in case you haven't noticed, Rebecca's being a Medical Specialist hasn't stopped her from advancing! She's a Lieutenant now!"

"I don't understand the problem, Chris..." Jill Valentine was less angry and more confused now. "...but I do know rank isn't an issue. How many times has Rebecca come to you because she's unhappy? You don't have to tell me because _she_ did, and she doesn't understand why, either! Rebecca doesn't feel like she's doing enough being kept in the labs!"

"Jill - !" Chris sighed again. "Rebecca's done a lot of amazing work for our organization as a Medical Specialist! It's not my fault if she thinks she isn't doing enough!"

"But you can do something to change that. She wants to make a greater contribution to our country and to the world, and none of us have the right to deny her that!"

Chris Redfield flinched again, but this time he took Jill's words personally...he started to get angry. "I'm not denying Rebecca a damn thing, Jill. I'd never do that to her. You should both know me better than that."

"I thought I knew you." Sheva Alovar looked down at the floor as she frowned, as she said with passion, "What are we supposed to think? What can be said to you? What can you say that would justify the way you're treating such a good and decent girl?" She looked at him again wiht hard eyes. "I have decided no matter what you have to say, I don't want to hear it!" Sheva then turned around sharply and began to walk away from Chris, back to the door to the office.

Chris quickly stood back up and called to her. "Sheva...! Sheva, wait a minute!" But the lady didn't listen...she left and slammed the door shut behind her. Chris shook his head angrily...and then he looked at Jill. He finally said, "You're not going to walk out on me, too?"

Jill Valentine's expression softened as she looked at Chris. She shook her head gently. "Even if I did...you know that like Sheva, I won't go far." Her posture relaxed then, but the frown on her beautiful face spoke volumes. "Would it help if you explained why you're stonewalling Rebecca? You've been telling her she hasn't been ready for three years when she knows she made the grade long ago." Her gaze became thoughtful as she examined the man. "Is this because of what happened to me? Is it because you don't want to see her hurt, either?"

His expression immediately softened. "No! No...I'd never want to see anything happen to Rebecca, but that's not it."

Jill looked down, reluctant to say what she wanted to next. "I know this isn't about what happened to two teams you commanded. It isn't about Piers."

Chris' expression became saddened as he remembered. "No, Jill. That...that wasn't too long ago." He had lost one team in Eastern Europe, and the post-traumatic stress combined with a head injury he suffered made him temporarily amnesiac...he became a drunken vagrant haunted by a guilt for something he couldn't remember. When Piers Nivans brought him back to the BSAA, as he recovered his memory, history repeated itself in China and Chris watched another team under his command die ugly deaths. And then he lost Piers, who stayed behind in Neo-Umbrella's undersea base when it was destroyed. Chris said thickly, "I had to go through a lot to realize that it wasn't my fault. My men...they made the choice to follow me into battle, and I was responsible for them...but I wasn't the one who killed them. And Piers...he made his own choice, too."

Jill nodded...she felt so much for Chris. "I wish I had the chance to know Piers. I...I-I wish to Heaven I came back to you sooner...I would have done anything to help you." She meant that with all of her heart and soul. When Jill Valentine returned to America after her rescue and Wesker's death, she was placed in protective custody for close observation and testing. More because she had the G-Virus in her than because of her extended time under an enemy's control, the government wanted to ensure she wasn't a threat. Partly because of the angry lobbying for Jill by Chris, Sheva, Rebecca and her family...partly because her tests confirmed she wasn't a threat, and partly because the government had virtually the same data from another subject who was both immune and not a carrier of the G-Virus that became part of her, Sherry Birkin...Jill was finally released from custody and regained her standing in the BSAA at the beginning of August. However, she experienced a drop in rank from Captain (the same as Chris, with whom she co-founded the organization) to Lieutenant. That last didn't bother Jill at all...as long as she could return to a normal life, a life she wanted, she couldn't complain. But in protective custody, she deeply regretted that she couldn't have been there for Chris to help him after what he went through in Eastern Europe...to be there with him as he fought Neo-Umbrella.

Elementally grateful to know Jill, Chris shook his head gently. "It's all right, Jill. _I'm_ all right. I...I can't even say in words how happy I am that you're back."

Jill smiled softly...her voice was so soft too, in spite of years of experience with terrifying creatures that hardened her into a true warrior. "You only told me that about a hundred times since I was cleared. That means so much more than you'll ever know." The light in her eyes shifted and she began to say something else...but she looked down for a moment, suddenly awkward. She quickly regained herself and looked at him. "But Chris, I need to understand. If it isn't about guilt, if it isn't out of fear of losing Rebecca...what's wrong? Can't you tell me why...?"

Chris looked at Jill with a sudden mix of emotions crossing his hardened features. He said hesitantly, "I want to, Jill...with all my heart, I want to. But I can't." Jill stared at him. "I know how stupid that sounds, but I really can't! I..." He looked down then. "...I made a promise, and I can't break it."

"A promise? I don't understand...!"

Chris frowned as he looked down and said quietly, "I wish I could say more, but...I'm sorry."

Jill's lips turned into a line as she stared at Chris. The expression in her eyes were full of need. "I'm sorry too, Chris. I know you're such a good man...no. You're the best. In all of the years I've known you, that's never changed. And I know it never will. That's why I'll always be with you, and I'll always be by your side." She began to say, in a much, much softer voice, "It's why I..." But her voice trailed off as she frowned, too.

Jill wanted to tell him so much. She wanted to tell him what was in her heart, feelings that grew for the man over the years. But...

...Jill thought of Rebecca then. Jill found her voice again and said, "I'll always be here for you, Chris...but you're not the only one I hold dear in my heart."

Then...Jill Valentine reached into one of the breast pockets of her shirt, and she took out something. She looked at it fondly for a moment before she continued. "I still remember how some of us wanted to call this wonderful girl the team mascot back in S.T.A.R.S. But she's grown so much since then. We all have." Jill walked up to Chris' desk as her eyes gazed into his, and her voice urged him: "Please...don't do anything that will push her away." With a flick of her wrist, she dropped the object - a small wallet-sized photo - spinning onto his desk. And then she turned to leave.

Chris Redfield couldn't help but stare at the small photo as it laid on his desk...he barely heard Jill open the door and then softly close it as she left. The photo was of Rebecca Chambers in a green R.P.D. basketball uniform, grinning and so sweet in her tomboyish way, as she sat cross-legged with a basketball in her hands. She looked more ready to shoot hoops than fight crime...or monsters. It had been taken early that July in 1998. He sat down behind his desk in his quiet office, picked up the photo, and stared at it.

He finally said, "It isn't up to me, Jill. It's never been up to me."  
**  
-5-  
**  
Rebecca and Cheryl crossed through the heart of Black Falls south to the fairgrounds and got to sightsee at least some of the town. Most of the sights were on Kubrick Street, so it was easy to do. Prominent on one side of the main street for the town was Black Falls City Hall, but in front of the big building was something just as impressive. It was a huge, artfully sculpted carousel of bright colors and horses in varying poses of exuberant gallop. Children were riding on it happily as their parents watched. It was a community attraction that seemed out of place in front of the seat of the town's government, but if there was a story behind how it happened, Rebecca didn't care too much...she and Cheryl were here for other reasons.

It turned out Cheryl cared far, far less...Rebecca couldn't help but notice that the blonde gave the carousel a dark glance.

Curious, Rebecca asked, "Are you all right, Cheryl?"

Cheryl looked at Rebecca and softened in expression. She simply said quietly, "I'm not crazy about merry-go-rounds like that." Cheryl looked away as she added, "I had a bad experience with one."

Rebecca drew a little closer as they walked and gently took Cheryl's hand...she felt the blonde stiffen for a moment, and then she relaxed. Cheryl looked at Rebecca and squeezed her hand softly. The brunette smiled back sweetly as she hoped to somehow make Cheryl at least a little happier. They continued to hold hands as they walked, almost in pace with the stop-and-go heavy traffic. They became part of a growing current of pedestrians on the sidewalks who, like them, made their way to the County Fair.

Over four blocks down, in the approximate center of the town, Kubrick Street ended in a T-intersection...there at the end in the middle of Barker Avenue was Wyler Community Hospital, a seven-story building the color of ivory, the tallest building in Black Falls. To Rebecca, there was something a little off about the location of the building in the center of town. In her experience, most people didn't like hospitals...in a small town like this, it would have made more sense to have the city hall or a place of worship in its heart, a place where traditionally the people gathered. A hospital, though...there was nothing wrong with a place like that in any way, but...

As they approached the King Bridge, flowing with the current of families and couples and children around them, Rebecca Chambers said to her companion, "I hope you can answer this, Cheryl. It's one of the biggest questions I have, but...it's a little strange."

Cheryl Mason said in response, "You want to know what the deal is with the fog in Silent Hill."

Rebecca felt sudden discomfort again, but she kept her smile. "O-kay, it's getting a little creepy how you can hear my thoughts, especially when I'm not expecting it!"

Cheryl said, "For the past few minutes you've been wondering how to ask me about the fog...your thoughts were directed to me already. I couldn't help but hear you."

"Oh." As they held hands, as they walked into the shadow of the covered bridge, Rebecca looked at Cheryl curiously. "Cheryl, how did that happen? Was The Order responsible? I know the fog isn't natural; a lot meterologists I've spoken to about Silent Hill can't explain it!"

Cheryl said quietly, "I can...but again, you're really, really going to need an open mind to hear the answer."

"Okay...?"

After a beat, Cheryl Mason said, "I brought the fog to Silent Hill."

Rebecca Chambers stared at her, surprised. "You did? Y-you're saying your powers help you control the weather...?"

Cheryl suddenly stopped, and so did Rebecca as they held hands. People moved around and past them. The blonde gave the brunette a serious look. "That's not what I said. Rebecca...I brought that fog to Silent Hill from...somewhere else."

Rebecca frowned...her beautiful face expressed the genuine desire to understand. "I-I'm really sorry, but...what do you mean by that?"

The blonde gently but firmly led the brunette to one side of the bridge, so they wouldn't be in anyone's way...so there was less of a chance of anyone overhearing them. Cheryl looked down for a moment, her expression one of sadness and...shame? Her voice was very soft at first as she spoke. "It happened when Dahlia tried to make me the Mother of God in...in a ritual. When she was done, I-I was in _agony_. I was afraid out of my mind, and...I went crazy, too. What happened next...it's like in physics, every action has an equal or opposite reaction? I reacted without thinking, without really being aware of what I was doing, and my power reached out and found...another place. In the process, a...a-a _bridge_ was formed connecting Silent Hill to that other place. Then the fog came and blanketed the town."

Rebecca felt more than a little fear because Cheryl was telling the truth. There was no doubt. "What was that other place, Cheryl?"

"I-I can't tell you. Not yet."

"Why not?"

"Because you really wouldn't believe me then."

Rebecca drew closer to Cheryl as they held hands. She said softly yet earnestly, "Cheryl, I do believe in you...but you need to believe in me. I know you've never lied to me, and you shouldn't keep things from me. You can trust in me as much as I trust you, you really can!"

Then...Cheryl said, "The sky is red."

Rebecca blinked. "Wh-what?"

The blonde said, "Pigs are flying, too. Just look up."

Rebecca frowned again...she even began to get irritated. "Cheryl - !"

"I know. I just told you something that can't be true. The sky is blue and pigs can't fly. And that's exactly how you'd react if I told you anything more about the fog and other things in Silent Hill. You'll hear me, and you won't believe because it contradicts what you...no." Cheryl shook her head. "It would be a lot better to say it this way." She looked into Rebecca's eyes.

"You won't believe because you've never seen the things I've seen. More than that, you don't know what I know. It would all be..._beyond_ you, Rebecca." Again, there was so much bleak knowledge in Cheryl's eyes. "You've seen some of the things I can do, and that's why you believe me so far. But there's so much I haven't been able to tell you because you haven't seen those things for yourself...and I hope with all my heart you never, ever do. Many of those things you'd be too afraid to believe in." The blonde's expression darkened to something beyond sadness, beyond horror, and tears began to fall down her cheeks. "But please, no matter what happens, believe in me. It's so important that you believe in me because I want the same things you do. I want to bring an end to those bastards before they hurt anyone else, I..." Her voice trembled as she said, "I don't want to lose you..."

Rebecca Chambers drew very close to Cheryl then, and her free hand lifted to touch one of the blonde's cheeks...and then to cradle the side of the girl's face gently, tenderly. The brunette BSAA agent who had also seen and experienced so much in her short life said, "It'll be okay, Cheryl. I do believe in you...we're in this together. You won't lose me and I won't ever fail you."

Cheryl Mason said softly in return as they looked into each other's eyes, "And I won't fail you. I'll die before I fail you."

A few moments passed before they finally, awkwardly returned to themselves as so many people moved past them.

They joined the flow again and it wasn't long before they reached the fairgrounds...they never stopped holding hands. The crowds were massive at the ticket booths. Time moved slowly until it was noon, and then it was almost an hour and a half before the women had their turn to be admitted inside. If they wanted to find Doctor Young, they had to move quickly.  
**  
-6-**

**Berlin, Germany**

In another part of the world far from Black Falls, as Rebecca and Cheryl sought out Doctor Young, it was about 8 in the evening in Germany's capital, Berlin.

Imagine this. How would you feel if you were raised virtually without love by parents who devoted themselves more passionately to their work? That's a hard question to answer, of course, but compound that when your parents' work sets in motion a chain of terrible events that thrusts you into a literal living nightmare? You found yourself alone and desperately afraid, and there seemed to be no way out?

If you had the strength of will and courage of Sherry Birkin, you'd weather the bloody and terrible storm...her spirit and courage were even more remarkable considering she was twelve years old.

Almost 15 years later, Sherry Birkin took in the massive sight of the Brandenburg Gate with awe. She was on vacation, but it wasn't exactly 'free' time considering she had to keep her superiors informed of her whereabouts, and even had to give them a schedule for where she'd be going from one moment to the next! Part of that time was for relaxing and sightseeing...another part of it, the reason why she chose Berlin, was very personal.

Sherry gazed at the great city gate...she felt so small, but at the same time she got the sense that, because of the human effort involved in building such a monument, she could be capable of great, lasting things, too. This wasn't the first time she felt such things, though. Long ago, she discovered how truly wonderful and giving human beings could be, but such people were few and far between...that being the case, she knew how truly lucky she was to meet Claire Redfield. She made Sherry feel loved and valued in ways her parents could never have shown her...and she responded by giving her very best at critical moments to help Claire and Leon S. Kennedy survive Raccoon City. The loss of her parents sank in only after the nightmare, and Claire was worried for her, but Sherry told the truth when she said she was okay. She missed them and mourned them, in spite of her anger toward them for never truly showing her love.

Unfortunately, during that crisis, her father William - transformed into a monster by his G-Virus - impregnated Sherry with an embryo in a horrid attempt to reproduce. Claire and Leon saved her with an anti-virus vaccine that helped her throw up the embryo before it killed her, but there were side effects. The anti-virus didn't eliminate all of the G-Virus in her system, and she was made a ward of the government, kept in top-secret medical facilities for the rest of her childhood. Sherry understood from the covert intelligence agent who became her legal guardian, an influential man named Derek Simmons, that the reason for her 'protective custody' was twofold. One, the government wanted to be sure that the G-Virus within her wouldn't lead to her one day becoming a threat to herself and to others. Two, she had to be kept hidden and secret from a wanted criminal, Albert Wesker, who no doubt would have wanted to secure Sherry for his own gains.

After Wesker's death, Simmons offered Sherry the chance to become a government agent. The girl had finally been deemed as safe, but she still earned extraordinary gifts because of the adaptations her biology made to the G-Virus. Sherry said yes, mostly because she wanted to follow the example of Claire Redfield...her hero, the greatest person she had ever known.

A lot happened for Sherry after that, and especially during the past year. She lost her patron and guardian, Derek Simmons, who proved to be a traitor of the highest order. More importantly, Sherry played an important role in bringing an end to the recent worldwide C-Virus epidemic.

To say the least, Sherry deserved some vacation time.

Over all of the years that took Sherry Birkin from Raccoon City to Washington D.C. and all of the way here to Berlin, she never lost the kindness and courage that were always a part of her. She had grown into a truly strong woman who could make a difference for others. In all of those years, though, there wasn't a day she didn't think of the person who was her savior and idol...in spite of the fact her current lot in life kept her separate from Claire Redfield, Sherry thought of her every single day.

Sherry missed Claire so terribly.

It was then, almost like a miracle, Sherry heard a voice call to her from behind...a voice she knew so intimately: "Sherry! _Sherry!_"

Sherry almost couldn't believe it...she was nearly afraid to. But the young blonde woman still turned quickly to see, not far away, a woman about ten years her senior standing amongst the many people who milled to and fro in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate. She was a truly attractive brunette with a ponytail who wore a buttoned khaki shirt over another long-sleeved red shirt, with jeans and boots. The lady held in her hands an infant-sized Robbie the Rabbit plush doll. The brunette's expression was elementally unsure, as well...she looked the same way Sherry felt, in fact.

Sherry recognized the woman instantly, of course.

Her wide eyes full of wonder, Sherry felt her heart start beating like a jackhammer as she felt herself walk toward the brunette. The blonde heard herself whisper, "Oh...oh, my god." With building strength, almost afraid to believe it, she said, "Claire...?"

Claire Redfield's expression became one of soul-deep regret this couldn't have happened sooner. In spite of the regret, she felt an incredible, transcendant joy that reached the core of her soul seeing Sherry again. She inhaled hitched breaths between her trembling lips as she cried, as tears streamed down her beautiful face...she hugged Robbie tight in her arms as she moved toward Sherry.

Sherry Birkin cried, as well...she wept hot, happy tears as she realized she wasn't just seeing things. This was happening...after so long, it was happening. She suddenly burst into a run as her voice rose quickly into a shout: "Oh...oh, Claire! CLAIRE!"

And then Claire Redfield dropped Robbie the Rabbit from her arms as she opened them wide, and for Sherry Birkin she felt twelve years old again as she rushed into those loving, giving arms she knew so well. Into the arms of a woman who protected and cherished her so much more deeply than her parents ever could have. Their bodies met, almost colliding, but Claire easily swept Sherry into her arms and they felt themselves spin around as they heard each other's breaths, felt each other's heartbeats, and the warmth of their embrace at that moment was perfection. They clutched each other tightly, desperately...they had been apart for too damn long and they knew it would be like death if they ever parted again.

Claire's smile expressed her perfect happiness as she felt Sherry in her arms. "Sherry...Sherry, I found you...I finally found you..."

Sherry laughed, and it was a beautiful sound to Claire. They felt themselves relax into each other needfully. And then the blonde felt elemental sadness and terrible regret of her own. She managed, "Oh, Claire...I-I'm so, so sorry! I've been a part of so many secret operations...I-I've had so much to do...!"

Claire could only hug Sherry tighter as her voice soothed: "Shhh. Don't apologize. Don't explain." She pulled back only a little, and they looked into each other's eyes. They both felt so much regret... "I-I've been busy, too. Life...i-it gets in the way, that's all!" It honestly hurt to step back from Sherry, but Claire had to, to take all of the beautiful blonde into her sight again...they still held each other's hands, not wanting to completely break contact with each other. Claire shook her head as she cried happy tears. "Sherry...my god, you look _amazing!_ You've grown so much...!"

Sherry laughed like a little girl as she took in the sight of Claire, as well. "And you haven't changed a bit! You're so beautiful...so beautiful..." She suddenly felt a little self-conscious and looked down reflexively...to see the plush pink rabbit on the ground. Sherry gasped and quickly knelt down; she had to let go of one of Claire's hands as she picked up Robbie. She looked at the rabbit with affection and said, "Oh, Robbie!" She swiftly looked at Claire and said gratefully, "I can't believe you brought him with you!"

Claire grinned. "How could I forget this guy was always your favorite? I knew that couldn't change."

Sherry's expression softened as she remembered what she said to this amazing woman so long ago: _"I grew up alone. But now that you're with me, I finally have someone to rely on..."_ Happy, grateful tears continued to spill down the blonde's cheeks. "Oh, Claire. I always knew I could rely on you. I knew _that_ would never change, ever..." As she held Robbie the Rabbit in one hand, she rushed close and embraced Claire again fiercely. Sherry Birkin said breathlessly into the brunette's ear, "I love you so much, Claire...I'll always love you!"

"Sherry..." Again, Claire Redfield clutched the blonde tight...she said with emotion, "I love you too, little girl...oh, I love you..."

They both felt whole again...they both felt _saved_.

**TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 is here! Things get sweet between Rebecca and Cheryl...but the situation isn't long from turning into something beyond anyone's worst imagining. Far, far beyond...**

**In this chapter, I couldn't help but give a humble, respectful nod to a music legend, George Jones, who sadly passed away recently.**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**CHAPTER 5:**

**"...BLACK FRIDAY"**

**-1-**

**The County Fairgrounds south of Black Falls, Vermont. **The huge open area big enough to hold a small town by itself was home to the Clearwater Amusement Park, named after the nearby stream. The park was open from May to September and held a respectable array of rides and attractions from bumper cars to its ferris wheel and wooden rollercoaster. The rest of the area, half of it within the town limits, was basically parkland that hosted a wide variety of events over the year, and was the starting point for hikers who wanted to take the nature trails outside of town.

For three days of the year - the weekend before Memorial Day - the fairgrounds served their ultimate purpose: to host the County Fair. The amusement park became part of the fair, as well, and earned most of its money at this time. If you've never been to an event like this, just imagine going to a carnival and amplifying that experience accordingly to cater to _thousands_ at any given time. The number of people expected to visit over the holiday weekend - much more than last year, in fact - prompted the Vermont State Police to send troopers to supplement the County Police officers and Black Falls Sheriff's Office deputies who had the daunting task of making sure things stayed orderly. Three times the amusement park's rides were added to please fairgoers, along with scores and scores of game booths. Try your luck with the ring toss, test your strength with the big hammer to ring the bell, or knock down the tower of milk bottles with a single throw to win a prize! Music acts gave their all alongside blue ribbon contenders in this fair that was close to the heart of a state deeply rooted in farming and the dairy industry. Prizes were fought for to see who had the best cow, cheese, syrup, and much more. And yeah, Ben & Jerry's made their presence felt along with fried food vendors...you know, the kinds of foods that are so amazingly, sinfully good, yet your doctor would frown at you for having any.

Naturally, it would have been next to impossible to take it all in from a single vantage point...entire families got in the way of one another, which prompted competition that ranged from friendly to spiteful as they tried to even get from one part of the fairgrounds to another. Strangely enough, fighting to get some elbow room or a decent look at whatever attraction the County Fair has to offer is part of its charm. It should have been a loud and chaotic assault to all five senses, but it's events like this that have been and always will be synonymous with the word _fun_.

Close to the center of the County Fair was the main stage, where an all-girl tribute band was performing for a sea of listeners the greatest hits of the late Country music legend, George Jones. All four of the girls were knockouts, all dressed in the classic, sexy image of the farmer's daughter...straw hats, shirts tied up to their bosoms to show their midriffs, denim Daisy Duke shorts, and sneakers. The girls sounded like angels and were putting many of their listeners to tears with a soulful version of George's signature song, _He Stopped Loving Her Today_, making the man proud.

A short distance away was the big tent that served as the main clinic for the fair itself, equipped to handle anything from a bad cut to exhaustion to anything else short of life-threatening, and held over two dozen cots. If something really bad happened to someone because of an accident or rowdiness, a person would be hustled quickly by stretcher out the back of the tent to one of two ambulances standing by, which would take them straight to Wyler Community Hospital in town. The man who was the administrator of the hospital, the one who oversaw the preparation of the clinic and two more first aid tents on the fairgrounds, exited the big tent.

Doctor Burton Young was a timid yet immediately charming man...he looked like someone's highly active grandfather, wearing a silver-gray suit in complement with his white hair and beard. His lively face animated easily and quickly, depending on his mood, and he defintely seemed to be in high spirits with a jovial grin. Young was outgoing, almost extremely so...as he stepped out, a few from town in the throngs of fairgoers shouted hello to him, and like a reflex action he immediately, enthusiastically waved back. One who first saw the man would have thought he worked a bit too hard to be friendly to people...in much the same way a used car salesman or politician worked hard to be friendly. But in general, Burton Young's persona seemed to communicate he was simply a kindly old man who still had a lot of work to do, and seemed to have more than enough energy to do it.

It was about ten minutes before two in the afternoon on this Friday, the first day of the County Fair. Young was ready to leave and return to his hospital, but as he walked in the general direction of the main entrance/exit a cheerful voice got his attention from behind: "Doctor Young?! Doctor Young!" The old man turned and saw a petite brunette who looked like she was dressed to go to someone's party, lovely with wide, curious eyes and a luminous smile. She approached Young as she said, "Hi! I was hoping to run into you!"

Young, a widower who never had kids, suddenly wished he was at least thirty years younger. She had his attention completely. He almost bowed and said, "Ah, good afternoon, young lady! Can I help you?"

"We'll see," the lady said as she reached him, and then she flipped open a leather folder in one slender hand to show Young her badge and government I.D. "Rebecca Chambers, Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance."

Young's eyes perked up. "I-Indeed? How can I help you or your organization? There are certainly no terrorists here." He nervously smiled and laughed, "Ah, at least not the last time I checked!"

Rebecca smiled with his joke. "I'm sure there wouldn't be, but I have heard of something interesting. I'm talking about the parasites that several citizens of Black Falls have fallen victim to over the past months."

The old man frowned deeply. "Oh, yes. Truly regrettable business, and quite confounding. We've just finally reached a solution for those creatures, thankfully."

Rebecca said, "That's great to know!" Her smile suddenly lost a few degrees of its warmth as her eyes became more serious. "However, according to what I've heard, I understand those parasites don't just attack people, right? If I heard correctly, they possess a human host and make them do things they wouldn't do."

Young nodded...as more time passed during their conversation, he seemed to get more nervous. "Y-yes, you did hear right, Miss Chambers - "

Rebecca gently corrected, "That's Agent Chambers, Doctor."

"Ah, my apologies. Well, the parasites are truly unique creatures, Agent Chambers."

"Mmm. But it's strange you never requested any help from any state or federal agency, even the State Board of Health. I can imagine the Centers for Disease Control would be interested in your situation, too."

"W-well, those parasites are unique, but they also proved to be simple creatures. Again, we did find a solution for them, which I'll formally announce at a town meeting next Monday."

Rebecca's eyebrows raised then. "Oh! Well, why not announce it now?" But as quickly as she asked that, the petite lady raised a hand and snapped her fingers, a light seeming to dawn on her. "Oh wait, that's right! You wouldn't want to scare off any visitors to this fair, would you? I guess it would be bad for the local economy?"

Young opened his mouth, but: "Ah..."

Rebecca kept the conversation going, in spite of his lack of an answer. "Anyway, I wanted to ask if I can meet you later this afternoon to see your parasites and your solution for myself."

She might as well have asked if the elderly doctor could drop his pants in front of all the fairgoers and cough for her. "Oh...ah..."

"Unless you think that wouldn't be a good idea for some reason...?"

"Eh? N-no, Agent Chambers, I'd be more than happy to show you anything you need to see!"

The brunette's smile returned to full brightness. "Awesome! What time would be best for you, Doctor? I know you're a busy man."

"Y-yes. How does...how does four o'clock sound, Agent Chambers?"

Rebecca nodded enthusiastically. "That's great, thank you! Where should I go to meet you in the hospital?"

"Ah, simply go to the third floor to see Gwendolyn Park, the Head Nurse. I'll be with her waiting for you unless, ah, something comes up and detains me..."

The girl put her hands on her hips and said lightly, "Well, that wouldn't do! I'd have to go looking for you!" Then she giggled...

...and Young laughed with her, but nervously. "Eheh, o-of course!"

"Well, I won't keep you, Doctor Young. I'll see you at four?"

"Yes, yes you will, Agent Chambers. E-excuse me!" Then Doctor Burton Young turned to quickly leave in the direction of the main exit again. He moved so briskly, he almost bumped into several fairgoers.

Rebecca Chambers folded her arms as she watched the old man go with a thoughtful frown. "Way too nervous!" Then she felt a slender hand gently touch one of her shoulders. "Cheryl...?"

Cheryl Mason drew close to the brunette's side as her hand rested on her companion's shoulder. She hadn't been far away, just out of Doctor Young's sight...her power helped her monitor their conversation, as they'd planned before, and much more. "It went okay, Rebecca. As I 'listened in', I got a sense of what he was feeling. He wasn't just nervous, you scared the hell out of him. I thought he was going to crap his pants a couple of times."

"You said you'd look into his thoughts, too. Did he think of anything that can help us?"

Cheryl shook her head softly. "I wish I could say yes. I saw...fleeting images of memory, like snapshots, but nothing coherent. Young was that scared and focused on you."

"Shoot. At least we know he has a guilty conscience."

"Wait." Cheryl cocked her head a little to the side as she looked at Young, who was disappearing into the sea of Humanity. "He's calming down a little, but...he might have been scared of you, but he's even more frightened of The Order. He's thinking of them...and a name. He's saying the same name in his head, over and over."

Rebecca looked at Cheryl. "Who?"

Cheryl answered softly, "Reeve. The name doesn't mean anything to me."

Rebecca said softly, "I never heard it before, either."

"Reeve is important and Young has as much fear of him as he does of The Order...he may be their leader."

"Okay. That's something we didn't know before. I'm looking forward to my next talk with the good doctor." Still looking in the direction Young left, Rebecca suddenly smiled. "Say, Cheryl..." She then turned fully to the blonde. "We have the better part of an hour to kill before we have to leave the fair. Wanna get some cotton candy?" With sudden excitement, she suddenly added, "Oooh! If there's time, let's do the bumper cars, or - !"

Cheryl stared at her. "Rebecca. Are you serious?"

"When it comes to having fun, I'm always serious!"

"Huh?"

"C'mon, Cheryl!" Rebecca suddenly grabbed her companion's hand and began to pull her into the crowd. "C'moooon!"

"Whulp!" Cheryl couldn't help but _be_ pulled!  
**  
-2-  
**  
Minutes later, Doctor Burton Young was in his car driving back to the heart of Black Falls. He was on his cell phone; he'd punched in a number and it only took two rings before someone picked up and answered in a smooth, quiet voice, "Hello?"

Young almost cried, "Reeve, it's Burton! We need to talk right now!"

"Good to hear from you, Burton. Did the fair start off well?"

Young almost shouted, "_Screw_ the fair, w-we have a problem! This woman from the BSAA came up to me and started asking about the parasites!"

"Rebecca Chambers, no doubt."

"Y-you know about her?!"

"She came into town last night, Burton."

That was when Young did shout: "Well, thank you so much for telling me NOW!"

"Calm down, Burton. You of all people should know getting uspet can be unhealthy."

The old man started to sweat from anxiety. "I have a _right_ to be upset, dammit! I've only barely been able to keep the state and federal authorities from looking into Black Falls, but I have no idea how much longer that will last! I thought I had enough worries about the CDC, and now out of the blue, a _bioterrorism task force_ has sent someone to ask me questions!"

"Well, there are certainly no bioterrorists here."

Young snarled, "Like _you're_ any better, considering what you've been doing with those damned parasites - !"

"Careful, Burton." A deadly chill could be felt in that smooth voice.

Young gulped air reflexively. Cheryl was right: the old man was deathly frightened of the man he talked to. "But...but she wants to see the parasites for herself, Reeve!"

"You didn't say no, did you?"

"O-of course not, but she'll be visiting the hospital later this afternoon!"

"Burton, simply keep a cool head and relax. Show the girl whatever she wants to see. Her involvement in the situation makes no difference. Very, very soon now, The Order's work here will reach its conclusion, and you will be rewarded for your services, as promised."  
**  
-3-  
**  
The first thing Rebecca and Cheryl did was get some cotton candy...and yep, Rebecca insisted. Cheryl liked it okay, just it got too sticky too easily. The cheerful brunette said, "That's part of the fun!" In spite of any hazards that went with eating the stuff, they still held hands as they searched for something to do, but they couldn't search long.

For almost twenty minutes, Rebecca and Cheryl couldn't find a single ride or game booth that didn't have a ridiculously long line. It was getting to where they'd soon have to give it up if they wanted to be in time to meet Young at the hospital at four - it was a long walk back to town. Then they got lucky and saw an opening at a booth that was having a slow go of it, at least at the moment. It was a classic shooting game that involved air guns that looked like Thompson submachine guns made famous by Chicago gangsters in the first half of the 20th Century. At the end of a short range were paper card targets with stars in the center suspended on a wire by clothespins. As the ladies approached the game's manager, a friendly fellow with a thick moustache, balding hair under his straw hat, and a very loud suit grinned at them expectantly and bowed with a flourish as he spoke in grand style: "Aha! Step right _up_, ladies! Try your luck and win a prize!"

Rebecca beamed at the man like a little girl, full of excitement. "That's why we're here, sir!"

Cheryl, though, was the polar opposite of Rebecca's exuberance. Doubtfully, she tried to say, "Uh, remember we're _really_ here for - !"

The brunette gently interrupted, "Hush!" Rebecca turned to the manager again and asked, "Just shoot the star out of the target, right?!"

Moustache Man grinned. "Exactamundo, my dear! Two dollars is all you'll have to pay for a chance to give one of these prizes a happy home!" He gestured to a long line of big plush animals, a rainbow of different breeds and bright colors. All looked too cute for words.

"You got it!" Rebecca paid the man...and then she turned and pointed at Cheryl. "And my girl is gonna do the shooting!"

Cheryl, of course, was surprised to hear that. "Wait, what?"

Rebecca drew close to the blonde. "You told me you're a crack shot, right?"

Cheryl frowned and reminded Rebecca, "I only said I was a _good_ shot!"

"Either way, that's enough for me! Go for it!"

Moustache Man leaned forward toward Cheryl, his eyes inviting. "Listen to your friend, Annie Oakley, and don't be shy!" He then gave her a deliberately skeptical look. "Unless you're _scared_ of showing us what you're made of...?"

Cheryl Mason's eyes narrowed as her expression became very serious. Still, her tone was light and fully in the moment as she answered his challenge: "I've been scared of a _lot_ worse, mister." Then the lady stepped up to take up one of the big air guns as Rebecca Chambers gleefully clapped her hands. Cheryl readied the gun and picked one of the cards...she finally said, "Just say when!"

The manager grinned as he reached under the counter, and his hand found the valve for the tank that held pressurized air. "Pick your target, aim and..." He quickly opened the valve and shouted, "GO!"

Cheryl only had thirty seconds to take the star out of the center of the card she chose with the air gun's pellets, which made it a contest as much about speed as it was precision. Cheryl felt herself relax as she began squeezing the trigger, firing in short bursts. The pellets chopped into the card, at first into the star itself. Rebecca lifted her fists to her chin in anxiousness as she watched. But the blonde _was_ a natural as, in the limited time she had, she carefully yet quickly stitched a hole around the star...and then tore it out only a second before Moustache Man shut off the air, and the gun went silent.

Rebecca couldn't help but jump and cheer, "Whoo-HOOO, YEAH! _You did it, Cheryl!_ AWRIGHT!"

Cheryl almost smiled then...again, only almost. Moustache Man looked at the the card and the ragged hole closely, and... "Mighty clean shooting, Annie Oakley! You got all of the star!" He didn't mind losing one of his big prizes...there were still plenty of them and more would-be shootists, young and old, were being drawn to his booth due mostly to Rebecca's cheers. The man said to Cheryl as he pointed to the shelf full of animals, "Take your pick of any of these prizes!"

Cheryl set down the big gun, looked at the colorful, huggable, wide-eyed animals...her heart really wasn't into 'adopting' one, and she sighed. "I don't know! Rebecca, does he have one you wanted?"

Rebecca grinned at her companion. "One I want to give to _you?_ Heck, yeah!" She turned to the man and said, "I'll take Robbie the Rabbit for my girl!"

Moustache Man bowed deeply. "Very well, young lady, a long-eared friend for Annie Oakley!" He began to reach for the big, pink rabbit...

"W-wait!" Both Rebecca and the man were surprised to see Cheryl looking at Robbie with a troubled expression. The blonde said to Rebecca quietly, "Uh, I-I'm sorry, could you pick a different one? Please?"

In spite of a sudden worry she felt for Cheryl, she didn't lose her smile. "Uh, sure!" She looked at the plush animals for a beat and said, "I'll take Huey the Horse for Cheryl!"

As they both left the booth, Rebecca carried Huey by one of his big hooves in one hand as she carried her handbag in the other...Cheryl was quiet with her hands in her jacket pockets, seeming not to have gotten into the spirit of the fair at all. That got Rebecca really worried as she asked, "Don't tell me you have a problem with Robbie the Rabbit?"

Cheryl said, "It's not a problem. I saw him...in a way I didn't want to once. In Silent Hill."

Rebecca bit her lower lip, her eyes becoming sad as Cheryl looked down at the grass. "Cheryl...I know you said you've been through terrible things...but..."

Cheryl looked at her. "What? What is it?"

Rebecca said softly, "I want to see you happy at least once, honey."

That was when Cheryl Mason stopped and really looked at the brunette, who stopped with her. The moody blonde asked, "Why do you care so much?"

Rebecca Chambers smiled again. "Because it would be wonderful to see you happy, to see you at least smile! You didn't even smile when you won our new buddy!" She looked down at Huey fondly.

"I was happy to win that. Really." Defensively, Cheryl frowned. "What do you want from me?"

Rebecca gently let the plush animal fall to the ground, and she fully focused on Cheryl. The feelings that had grown within her for the blonde since they first met intensified. Her affection, her need to be with Cheryl, to be there for Cheryl made Rebecca say, "The only thing I want from you is something you _need_ to do when you're at a fair like this, when you're having at least a little fun, when you win something, and that's _smile at least a little!_ C'mon, girl, I want to see your frown...turn upside-down!" For emphasis, the animated brunette took the index fingers of her slender hands, made an arch...and then turned her wrists to invert it, and it did form a smile.

Cheryl gave the lady a look and shook her head as Rebecca drew curious watchers from those passing around them. "You really _are_ a geek, because you'd make a lousy cheerleader!"

"Cheryl - !"

In spite of her own feelings, her own warm, growing need to always be Rebecca, Cheryl suddenly said, "Please stop! Please? I _have_ been through terrible things, things I can't talk about. I-I saw my own father murdered, Rebecca. I don't need any of the _other_ shit I remember, my memories of Dahlia, okay? Coming home one night and seeing my dad dead showed me how cold and terrible this world can be." Cheryl spread her hands as she looked around. "This...fun like _this_ doesn't last! And happiness? If I'm damned lucky, happiness comes in small doses!" Cheryl looked down and finished softly, "I'm not like you, Rebecca. I...I haven't been able to see the brightness in life for a very long time."

But Rebecca didn't give an inch...she couldn't. "Honey...if happiness can't come to you, _then you make yourself happy_. Just as long as you're not hurting yourself or anybody else, you find happiness any way you can while you can! I mean, life's too short, right?! Or maybe _you need someone to make you happy_, and trust me, I can do that!"

Cheryl's saddened eyes looked away from the brunette. "Rebecca...!"

"You deserve to be happy, Cheryl, and I don't care if you disagree! I swear I'm gonna see you smile, because you need to...and if you're going to make me use cheap tactics, then I will!"

Cheryl looked sharply at Rebecca then. "What does _that_ mean?"

Rebecca's smile formed a truly naughty edge then as she sighed, "Oh, nothing!" Suddenly, the brunette turned around to look at the sea of people around them and she began waving her hands...she yelled, "Hey, everybody! HEY! ATTENTION, EVERYBODY!"

Taken completely off her guard, Cheryl looked ready to panic. "Rebecca - ?!"

Rebecca, meanwhile, was carrying on LOUD as she spun around and continued to wave her hands furiously. "HELLOOOOO! CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEEEASE?!" Her antics had the desired affect, though...she drew a crowd all around them of families, couples, fairgoers of all ages who looked at the beautiful, energetic brunette curiously. Beaming at them all, Rebecca gratefully said, "Thank you! I've got a little problem - no, this isn't about me, it's about my girl Cheryl here!" Then, with a grand gesture to the moody blonde, she said loudly, "Everybody, meet Cheryl!"

Cheryl's mouth almost dropped open as she stared at Rebecca. "Oh, you are NOT - !"

Rebecca grinned and countered, "Oh, yes I _am!_" She quickly whirled to everyone around and shouted, "C'mon, everybody, say 'Hi, Cheryl!' EVERYBODY!"

Much to Cheryl's horror, Rebecca was being successful: most everyone said loudly, "HI, CHERYL!"

Mortified, the blonde wanted to crawl into a hole and bury it behind her. "Rebecca, I swear - !"

But Rebecca quickly stepped up to her and said, "Say hi to everyone, Cheryl!" The brunette clasped her hands together as her wide eyes pleaded to the blonde. She said softly, "C'mon, please?"

Cheryl Mason wanted to say no...she wanted to resist, even unto death...but her heart melted feeling the sweet, sweet emotion from Rebecca's soul, seeing the beautiful girl's imploring expression. How could she refuse? Hesitantly, lamely, she looked around at the curious crowd and managed a wave as she said humbly, "Uh...hi, everybody!"

Elementally delighted, Rebecca Chambers yelled, "OKAY!" Many of the crowd couldn't help but laugh as they felt her pure, positive energy. Rebecca felt theirs, and it only boosted her high enthusiasm. She announced for everyone in earshot, "You need to know Cheryl has a little problem! She's forgotten how to smile!"

Many of the audience, to their credit, responded with _"Awww!"_

Rebecca threw up her hands and agreed, "Yeah, I know! But she needs just a LITTLE help to fix that! And it'll be easy! Really!"

Cheryl shook her head slowly; her face had turned a bright pink color. She groaned, "I can't _believe_ you're doing this...!"

Rebecca moved to one of the audience, an eight-year-old girl with her parents close behind. The brunette dropped to one knee, gave the girl a winning smile and said, "Hi, there!"

The girl said cheerfully, "Hi!" Many of the audience couldn't help but laugh.

Rebecca drew close to the little one and asked brightly, "You wanna know how to help Cheryl?"

Fully into it, the kid said, "Yeah!"

"Awesome! And like I said, it'll be easy! I'm gonna start a chant, you know what that is?"

The little girl shook her head. "Mm-mmm!"

Rebecca said, in a voice strong enough for the crowd to hear: "I just need everyone to say the same thing with me, over and over, until Cheryl does it! And if she does it, _she wins!_" Rebecca quickly stood and looked at everyone and announced, "Just say one word with me, over and over, everyone...and that word is _'smile'!_" The lady suddenly shouted then, "IS EVERYBODY READY?!"

To Rebecca's delight...and Cheryl's chagrin...everyone enthusiastically responded in the affirmative! Cheryl yelled at the brunette, _"Rebecca, this is embarrassing!"_

Rebecca looked at Cheryl and said, "Just remember you made me do this, honey!" She then spun around and yelled, "Everybody, say it with me! Smile! Smile! Smile! Smile!" And, young and old, the crowd did...their voices added to hers in an energetic, rhythmic chant.

Cheryl lowered her head and covered her face in her hands, completely embarrassed. "Oh, god...!"

And it only got worse. Rebecca rallied the crowd to _turn up the volume_ of the chant, and suddenly everyone around her was virtually yelling with the brunette, over and over, "SMILE!-SMILE!-SMILE!-SMILE!-SMILE!"

Cheryl Mason looked around her, looked at Rebecca Chambers with wide, helpless eyes as she led the crowd to increase the tempo of the chant, too. The blonde suddenly found herself stuck in a sea of cheer and good fellowship. She wanted to draw into herself, run, hide, anything, but she was trapped. And yet...and yet, the positive energy of the moment reached into her heart, as well. For a moment, she forgot about her nightmare past, she forgot about the things she still couldn't tell Rebecca, things she knew that sweet, wonderful girl wouldn't have believed...and Cheryl felt her heart begin to swell as she began to smile...a radiant, amazing smile that echoed the building happiness in her heart. Even more, Cheryl Mason _laughed_, and it was a truly jubilant sound as Rebecca Chambers squealed with sheer joy and applauded, and everyone around couldn't help but clap with her.

Rebecca rushed to Cheryl and glomped her in a big hug, and they laughed together as they clutched each other tight, as the applause washed over them. Rebecca looked around her and Cheryl and waved to everyone...she shouted with all her heart, "Thank you! THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

Cheryl felt wonderful as she Rebecca held each other tight...as she continued to smile, she criticized lightly, "You still make a lousy cheerleader!"

Rebecca laughed, "So I'm lousy! What matters to me is how you feel, honey." She truly didn't want to let Cheryl go.

The blonde's lips twisted into a smirk. "You keep calling me 'honey', and I'll give _you_ a pet name!"

Rebecca's eyes honestly widened with excitement at the thought. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!" But what Cheryl said next was elementally gentler as her eyes turned solemn. "Would you mind Becca?"

Rebecca Chambers looked into the blonde's eyes for a long moment as they held each other...her smile was perfect as she said, "Honestly, I'd love it." She added in a much softer tone for the lady she held in her arms, "It makes me so happy to see you smile."

Cheryl Mason couldn't stop smiling back at the brunette she held and began to adore in turn. "Thank you, Becca. Thank you for making _me_ happy."  
**  
-4-  
**  
At that time, even as Rebecca and Cheryl felt their hearts soar, dark events were unfolding across Black Falls. Preparations were being made. The time had almost come.

For example, in the Black Falls Sheriff's Office, a squat two-story brick building that sat across from City Hall on Kubrick Street...Sheriff James Gulager entered from the back, walked between the iron-barred cells of the jail area, and entered the main office. It was quiet here, and Gulager saw that only one other man was present. It was still early, and no one had caused enough trouble at the fair to get arrested yet. The thin, hard man who was the highest law enforcement officer in town was relieved to see he had good timing.

The last thing Gulager needed was witnesses as he carried a portable styrofoam cooler in one hand.

Deputy Tony Callahan was working Dispatch at the radio console, and he looked bored. So far it was quiet, but as this first day of the fair grew long, the redhead knew that would change sooner or later. Tony didn't wish for anything bad to happen, of course, but he at least needed something to break the boredom as Gulager approached behind him quietly on the carpeted floor...almost too quietly, because the deputy didn't hear him until he was five steps away. Tony turned and saw Gulager and nodded. "Good afternoon, sir!"

"Tony," Gulager said in a low rumble. "Any calls?"

"Nothing yet, Sheriff. I hope it stays that way."

"We'll see, boy." He set down the cooler on a desk not far behind Tony.

As he moved to the redhead, Tony turned from the console and asked, "Ah, I never got to ask, Sheriff. Did I do something wrong last night?"

The tall, thin man looked down at his deputy. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you looked kinda mad when I stopped to ask if things were okay. When you were talking to those ladies?"

"You're worried about that? Trust me on this, Tony. If you ever got into real trouble with me, you'd know it. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Still...Tony had to wonder. "Um, why put me on dispatch, then?"

"Would you rather be out on patrol driving? Or hoofing it on foot?"

Tony wanted to ask if that was a trick question. Instead, he answered straight: "Well, yeah. I mean, yessir!"

"Relax, Tony, you're too uptight." Gulager relaxed in his posture visibly...still, he pointed at the deputy and said, all-business, "Keep focused on your job, though!"

"Yes, sir!" Tony turned in his chair and kept his eyes on the radio console. Away from Gulager.

The deputy heard his superior ask, "So I heard your family had to go back to New Hampshire?"

"Yeah, just a couple of days ago," Tony Callahan said, and he already missed them.

"What made you come here all the way from New Hampshire? I never thought to ask you that."

Glad for some conversation, Tony relaxed a little more as he watched the console. "Well, my family visited Vermont a few times as I was growing up. This is a beautiful part of the country, you know? I thought when I grew up, I'd come here to stay, and I love small towns like Black Falls. It's quiet here, and if I can, I want to help keep it that way." He'd only moved to Black Falls, made it his home, about a year ago.

"I'm sure your family's proud of you, Tony."

Tony smiled, a little self-conscious. "Thanks, Sheriff."

"You found a good girl in town to settle down with, boy?"

Tony shrugged. "Well, I've got a couple of prospects, nothing serious yet." Then Tony heard a strange sound...a metallic _snikk!_ He began to turn around in his chair again as he said, "Why are you ask - "

CRACK! The deputy's question was cut short harshly as he was hit across the face with a collapsible metal police baton, an Asp. Sheriff James Gulager had just flicked it to full extension, and he didn't want to kill the redhead, just knock him out. The blow sent Tony Callahan out of his chair and to the carpet, one of his cheekbones brutally broken, but he was still barely conscious...for him, the world became a senseless red haze.

As he loomed over the semi-conscious deputy and retracted the Asp, Gulager said, "Just wanted to make sure no one's going to miss you right away!" Gulager pocketed the baton, bent over, and lifted the much younger man. It took some strength on his part to haul the dazed redhead to a desk, where Gulager helped Tony stand, only to make him fall limply on top of it, face down. Not far away was the cooler on another desk. Gulager considered his deputy for a moment and shook his head. "Nothing personal, Tony. I just have my own job to do."

James Gulager received instructions for his job, a job very different from his duties as Sheriff, from someone in The Order. He was hesitant at first because up until then, he didn't get his hands dirty. He wasn't directly involved with his secret employers' activities, which beyond any doubt were criminal. Until now. With both hands, Gulager took hold of the back of Tony's uniform shirt just above his equipment belt and pulled it up over his head as he laid face-down...he quickly did the same to the younger man's t-shirt, and he moved to the cooler.

The Sheriff of Black Falls opened the cooler, and his face quickly twisted in disgust. Still, as he got out a pair of latex gloves from his pants pocket and snapped them on he said in a mild tone, "I got a friend for you to meet, Tony. He's not much for conversation, and he likes to take charge..." He then reached into the cooler and managed to get ahold of what he needed.

Tony was literally still reeling mentally, barely able to see with his shirt pulled over his head, and in a world of pain. He heard Gulager continue: "...still, I think you two are gonna become fast friends." He barely felt someone loom over him as he heard Gulager's voice finish: "Just call him Sluggo!"

Tony Callahan felt something heavy and wet slap onto his bare back...a sudden, tremendous suction that made the new weight literally stick to his back...and then pain. The pain was incredible, beyond any imagining as he felt something sharp drive into his spine. And then it became indescribable. James Gulager watched as the redhead's entire body convulsed, his limbs flailed from violent spasms...Tony almost fell off the desk, but didn't. It lasted only a moment, but for Gulager it felt like a century. Tony Callahan's body finally went still far too suddenly, and the thin, hard man thought his deputy was dead.

A moment later, Tony began to move...but he rose slowly, jerkily, like a puppet on strings. As he did, Gulager pulled down the redhead's shirt and the black, glistening parasite was obscured, although one would have noticed he had a strange hump to his back. Tony Callahan turned, and his mouth was wide open in a frozen scream, but the rest of his expression was slack and almost lifeless. And the young man's eyes...his eyes had turned the color of blood.

Sheriff James Gulager folded his arms and looked at Tony...he said simply, "I was told you'd understand me and do what I said." The redhead's mouth slowly, shakily closed. His slack expression didn't change...but he nodded in the affirmative. "All right. I need to tell you to come with me. You got friends who are gonna pick you up out back. Just follow me. You hear me?" Tony Callahan - no, what was in control of him - understood and nodded.

Keeping a respectful distance from the possessed deputy, Gulager walked past and gestured to the redhead to follow him. And he did...from the office to the jail and to the back door, where an old Econoline cargo van was waiting outside with the motor running. It's side door opened, and a man in dark clothes and a black ski mask got out and said in a commanding voice to the possessed deputy, "Inside!" The thing in control of Tony Callahan obeyed, and the redhead jerkily entered the van to sit with a few others in the shadowy interior. Like Tony, the others he joined also had bright crimson eyes. Then the man in the ski mask got back in the van, closed the door, and it drove down the back alley behind the Sheriff's Office.

James Gulager watched them leave, and he nodded. He still had two more of those parasites in his cooler. He still had two more deputies to call in...men no one would miss right away, like Tony. Gulager had no idea what Reeve had in store today, but he was promised he'd profit immensely working for The Order, like many others in Black Falls' city government had been promised. In the Sheriff's case he'd been given half a million dollars months ago, what Reeve called a 'down payment' for his services. In small measures and big ever since, like Doctor Burton Young and others of influence, the highest law enforcement officer in town helped make things happen for the cult. And yes, up until that point, ignorance had been bliss. As long as he made his money, the less he knew of what those cultists were doing, the better.

But Reeve and his people were working on something, and they'd been doing things he didn't want to know about very quickly in just the past few days...ever since that nothing of a girl Cheryl Mason came into town. Then to find out on such short notice that the reason The Order was in Black Falls, that all the things Gulager and his co-conspirators had helped Reeve accomplish led to something they needed to do _today_, made the Sheriff even more uncomfortable. And now Gulager had to turn a few of his own deputies into what Reeve called Puppets and let them be taken by his people for...what? And why? What made Cheryl Mason so damn important to Reeve? A part of James Gulager wondered if he'd made a blind deal with the Devil or something.

In spite of everything, Gulager had always felt in his gut how dangerous Reeve was...it was fear as much as greed that made Gulager sell his soul and his honor.

Ignorance _had_ been bliss, and he never went out of his way to discuss the situation with the other officials to make sense out of what The Order was preparing for. There was one time he spoke to someone else the cult bribed, the man in charge of Public Utilities. The bureaucrat found out that someone else had been bought and paid for by The Order...the guy responsible for the maintenance and testing of the town's electronic civil defense siren, which would warn citizens of hazardous weather or other emergencies. The Public Utilities man told Sheriff Gulager that Reeve's people were in control of the siren now, and it was the strangest thing...

...it had been replaced with a much older, mechanical air raid siren.

Why in the hell would Reeve want _that?_  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED**


	6. Chapter 6

**PREVIOUSLY: Rebecca Chambers, in her efforts to investigate a mysterious cult known as The Order, discovered they somehow played a role in the destruction of two towns, Silent Hill and it's neighbor, Shepherd's Glen. Rebecca's search for answers led her to Black Falls, Vermont...and to another who was hunting for the cult, a young woman named Cheryl Mason with amazing powers and a haunted past.**

**In this chapter, Rebecca and Cheryl prepare to confront Doctor Young - a former associate of Michael Kaufmann, who worked with The Order before Silent Hill's fall. Unfortunately, nothing will prepare them for an encounter with the _leader_ of the cult...and he has a nasty surprise for them!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGEMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**CHAPTER SIX:**

**"MONSTERS"**

**-1-**

**The time was approaching four o'clock that Friday afternoon in central Black Falls. **Rebecca Chambers and Cheryl Mason were walking down Barker Avenue, only a block from Wyler Community Hospital, their destination. As the held hands, as Cheryl held a plush Huey the Horse with her free arm, she looked at the companion she had come to care for so deeply since they met and said, "Tell me more about Jill Valentine. You said she's your best friend?"

Rebecca nodded as she held hands with Cheryl, as she held her handbag in her free hand...in the handbag was her iPhone, her wallet and government I.D., and her Beretta 9mm pistol. Rebecca brightly answered, "Ever since I joined S.T.A.R.S. in Raccoon City, yeah." She smiled fondly as she remembered. She'd gone through months of police academy training to be certified for the unit; some of those lessons were specialized and involved her learning special weapons and tactics, skill sets similar to those ingrained into the Los Angeles Police Department's famed S.W.A.T. unit, including emergency procedures for everything from natural disasters to hostage situations. Rebecca wasn't a strictly athletic girl, but she made up for any physical shortcomings with her characteristic high energy and a passionate desire to learn. Her spirit drove her to succeed and she did...Rebecca officially became the field medic of the S.T.A.R.S. unit's Bravo Team in June of 1998, less than half a year after she graduated from college at the age of 18. "I knew going in that I'd be the rookie, that I'd have so much to prove to the people I'd be working with. But there was one other _little_ problem I had...I was one of only two females in a group full of men."

Cheryl smiled gently and said, "Let me guess: testosterone overload!"

Rebecca laughed and almost shouted, "_Bingo!_ Half the guys couldn't take me seriously because I was a 'little girl', and the other half were afraid they'd break me if they got too close! One of them, this big but lovable lummox named Barry Burton, called me 'the S.T.A.R.S. mascot'." Cheryl visibly cringed in reaction, and Rebecca's smile turned lame. "Yeah. I did my best to play along, but god, I _hated_ that!" The beautiful brunette's smile became sunnier again as she continued... "And then I met Jill, who was on Alpha Team. I was beyond lucky to meet her, and even luckier she became my best friend. Shoot, it was like I'd finally found a big sister. Jill took me under her wing and helped me find ways to bring the guys around to the fact I deserved to be treated as an equal. Jill could have done that for me - and easily! - but because of her, I found the strength to earn the respect of the guys myself. I'll always be grateful to Jill for that. I...I owe her for so many things." The brunette's voice fell almost to a whisper when she said that last sentence.

For a moment, Rebecca's lovely expression became a mix of emotions. Not just of gratitude to her best friend, but she felt so much more. For a fleeting moment, Cheryl thought she felt from the brunette a burst of sadness...and of shame? Cheryl didn't use her power look fully into Rebecca's thoughts to satisfy her curiosity. The beautiful blonde had too much respect for the one she had grown to hold sacred in such little time too, but Cheryl got the sense that there was a terrible regret in Rebecca's past, and that she was loathe to dwell on it.

Rebecca finally added in a more serious tone, "Anyway, not long after I became part of S.T.A.R.S., the incidents in the forest happened that July. Vacationers were being attacked...being eaten by both animals and what appeared to be unknown _human_ suspects."

Cheryl nodded. "The first of those zombies. How did you get involved with that?"

But Rebecca said, "I'll have to tell you about that later, Cheryl. Because this must be the place!" The brunette stopped and so did the blonde as they held hands. Cheryl quickly realized she'd been so focused in Rebecca, she didn't notice at first they had arrived at their destination. They were both at the front visitor doors of Wyler Community Hospital. The pale building dominated the center of town at the T-intersection of Barker and Kubrick, Black Falls' main street. The man Rebecca needed to talk to - the hosptial's Administrator, Doctor Burton Young - had to be here.

Cheryl glanced down at her left wrist, at her watch, and saw the time. "It's just about four, too. You'd better go inside."

Rebecca's eyes became soft as she squeezed Cheryl's hand...she asked, "You sure you'll be okay out here?" Agents of The Order had to be watching them at the moment from somewhere unseen, in spite of the town becoming crowded with visitors to the nearby County Fair.

But the blonde beauty squeezed her hand back reassuringly, her expression confident. "On a public street with tons of people everywhere? In broad daylight? The Order wouldn't try anything with me now, whether they're watching or not." Cheryl knew better than anyone the cult's greatest advantage was their secrecy...in her experience, they always did their worst in the shadows so they'd never be seen by the prying eyes of nonbelievers. That was how The Order became the secret power that controlled Silent Hill before its fall.

Cheryl truly believed The Order would never do something that might expose them, even for a moment.

Rebecca saw the logic in the blonde's words and nodded. "Okay."

Cheryl's eyes shifted to become solemn as she looked into Cheryl's eyes. "I'm more worried about you, so like before I'm going to stay with you by thought. I'll listen and see through you, and if I see anything important you need to focus on, I'll let you know." She had done the same thing with Rebecca's permission when the BSAA agent spoke to Doctor Young before at the fair. Then Cheryl thought of something and added, "There's one thing you need to be on the lookout for...it's called Aglaophotis."

Rebecca's eyebrows perked up. "What in the world is that?"

"I told you before that The Order used the parasites in Silent Hill to control people, to make them foot soldiers for the cult." The agent nodded. "History has to be repeating itself, but even those bastards wouldn't be immune to the things. Aglaophotis is a dark shade of red and comes in fluid or crystal form, and...it has a lot of uses. But two of its most important are that it can not only kill a parasite, make them disintegrate, it can drive a parasite off a human it possessed and free them. Doctor Young's friend in Silent Hill, Michael Kaufmann, kept some Aglaophotis to protect himself in case The Order betrayed him. If Young says he supposedly came up with a solution for the parasites in this town, then that has to be it! Got it?"

"Uh-huh!"

"I wouldn't even be surprised if the good doctor kept some Aglaophotis with him, too. Even Reeve and his people might be carrying some...just in case. When the time is right, when you rattle Young's cage, I'll look into his thoughts." Cheryl's smile reflected she honestly looked forward to that. Then they could begin to find an end to this before The Order caused any damage in Black Falls that couldn't be repaired.

"Will you be able to tell if I meet any of his friends in The Order? There might be some working with him in the hospital."

"Yes. If need be just ask if you want to know about anyone you run into, and I'll be able to tell if they're innocent or not."

Rebecca nodded. "All right! And the moment we know enough, I'll call in my friends with the BSAA. It'll take them less than an hour and a half to fly here from Washington."

Cheryl stepped close to Rebecca as her hazel eyes gazed into the agent's sky-blue eyes. There was a quiet power in the blonde's voice as she spoke. "Just be yourself, Rebecca. Together we can do this."

They still held hands as they looked into each other's eyes. Rebecca said softly, "I know. Cheryl..." For a moment, the brunette looked down, unsure, as she bit her lower lip in a way that made her even more beautiful. On impulse, Rebecca quickly yet softly kissed Cheryl on her cheek. Rebecca's own cheeks brightened a little under the warm summer sun as she said, with feeling, "Thank you."

Cheryl looked at Rebecca with a mix of surprise and a flood of other emotions. It felt like a charged energy had built in the air between the young women. Then. Cheryl squeezed Rebecca's hand again as the lovely blonde's full lips kissed the brunette's tenderly, sweetly, and she took her time in the careful yet adoring act. Cheryl almost whispered, "No...thank _you_."

Rebecca suddenly felt very, very warm then as she and Cheryl looked into each other's eyes...as they held hands. For a moment, the rest of the world around them melted away. Rebecca felt her heart pound in her chest...she breathed a little more shakily...yet she felt like she was just swept up into one of the few white clouds drifting in the blue sky above. Indeed, they both felt the same euphoria, the mutual need for each other that grew since the first moment they met. It was a need that had evolved into something more, they both knew. Much, much more.

But dammit...there wasn't any time for that. Not now. Slowly, reluctantly, Rebecca Chambers stepped back as she softly let go of Cheryl's hand. The brunette's smile was luminous as she promised, "I'll see you later!" Then Rebecca turned away from Cheryl to the doors as they automatically opened, and that alone felt so wrong as her bright smile faltered...it was even worse to walk away from the blonde, for there to be any distance between them. Cheryl felt the same way as the brunette girl moved into the shadow of the hospital's lobby, out of the daylight...it was almost painful to watch her go, to feel her growing absence. But then Rebecca Chambers needfully glanced back to Cheryl and smiled again...and then the doors closed.

Cheryl Mason suddenly felt more alone than she ever had been...ever...and she didn't know that was possible. She moved down the sidewalk several paces as she carried Huey the Horse under one arm, and then stopped to lean against the wall as she saw the thick stop-and-go traffic in front of her, the pedestrians not much further away moving north to the intersection and then turning west onto Barker, toward the County Fair. Those driving or on foot who happened to glance at the blonde girl would have just kept on with what they were doing. It was Cheryl's style to not attract attention to herself as she wore her leather jacket, plaid men's shirt and jeans with boots. There seemed to be nothing special about her at all, when the hidden truth was that the girl was more extraordinary than anyone could have imagined. But if a person would have let their glance linger on her, they would have felt a sudden worry. Cheryl slowly slid down the wall to sit against it as the sadness in her expression increased...her knees were close to her lovely face as she let Huey lie on the sidewalk next to her...then she wrapped her arms around her slender legs and the fingers of her trembling hands laced together. Cheryl Mason almost curled up into a ball as she sat against the wall, and she fought with all of her heart and soul not to cry.

Cheryl's sad, expressive eyes shone in the sun as she barely held back her tears...she thought: _What the hell am I doing?! How did I let things get to this point?! I wanted to deal with these bastards alone. I didn't want Douglas or anyone else involved in the first place because I didn't want anyone getting hurt trying to help me! Besides, this is my fight, right? I know better than anyone what The Order wants. If I stop them, that's all I can ask for. Just stop them from hurting anyone else. And if I fail...then I can only hope I'll have the chance to kill myself._

_I know what they want from me. If I die, then I'll still win. If I die, I'll still be free of them._

_It won't be a_ bad _thing if I die, anyway._

Yet everything changed the moment Rebecca Chambers entered her life.  
_  
Oh Becca, why did you have to come here? You have no idea what those scum have done, you couldn't imagine what they want to do, and I hope you never ever find out. W-why did you come into my life? How did I open up to you so easily? Why?  
_  
But Cheryl already knew why.

Because Cheryl had been alone for so long...for too long. She cared for Rebecca, felt things she never imagined she could feel for anyone else. It was so perfectly right to be with Rebecca. Cheryl felt she had already begun to fall in lo -  
_  
NO! No-no-no! I-I can't let that happen! Even if it hurts so much, I have to remember what happened to dad!_ He died because of me, and I don't want that to happen to anyone else!

Cheryl Mason fought even harder against her need to cry as she let her hands part and her legs relaxed...her feet moved out a little, but she didn't want anybody to maybe trip over her. Her right hand instinctively lifted to touch the silver choker necklace she wore around her neck. A gift from her father, Harry Mason, on her sixteenth birthday...a little over a year before he died. Her mournful eyes looked into the distance as she began to cry haunted, guilty tears.  
_  
Dad died because of me, and I can't let that happen to anyone else. And Becca doesn't know everything about me yet. She doesn't know what kind of_ monster _I am. I don't deserve to be happy...or to be loved. Sweet Becca, it would have been better if you never even met me._

But just as quickly as she thought that, Cheryl Mason thought something else...something she knew to be true.  
_  
Oh, Becca...I can't live without you._

But before Cheryl could reconcile the maelstrom of feelings inside of her, she felt Rebecca Chambers speak to her by thought because of the mental rapport she established between them. _"Cheryl, I'm about to reach the third floor!"_

Quickly, for Rebecca's sake, Cheryl Mason wiped her wet cheeks furiously with her bare hands. The girl managed to calm, slow her breathing, and focused as she closed her eyes. As she sat on the sidewalk outside, the blonde reached out and began to see and hear all the BSAA agent did. Cheryl answered by thought, _"I hear you, Becca. I'm right there with you!"_  
**  
-2-  
**  
The elevator doors opened on the third floor, and Rebecca Chambers stepped out. The pixie-like, short-haired brunette dressed in her crimson top and long gloves and tight black pants and shoes continued to give the visual impression she was dressed more for fun in a big city than for visiting a hospital in a small New England town. Rebecca didn't mean to, it was just her style...even though, like the former tomboy told Cheryl not long ago, looking pretty wasn't a big deal to her like it used to be. No one would have thought her to be a federal agent for a bioterrorism task force either, which was a good thing. But there was such an aura of natural innocence and pure, elemental charm in her wide, bright eyes that made anyone who got closer to Rebecca realize she wasn't a party girl. Rebecca Chambers was simply a sweet, caring young woman who lived for the moment whenever she could in spite of the terrors she had barely survived in her past.

But now was time for business...serious business. Rebecca looked at the Nurse's Station in front of her in the heart of the hospital's third floor, staffed by a solid number of nurses and orderlies. The male orderlies were dressed in scrubs...green, short-sleeved shirts and long pants. The female nurses, however, were a different and visually arresting story.

Rebecca had no idea when in the history of American medical practice it started, but it could still be found in many hospitals in the modern day, and it was definitely found in Wyler Community Hospital...the lady nurses here were dressed in that classic, glamorous style with short, white, buttoned dresses that accentuated their bosoms and their legs, which were in matching white pantyhose, along with their nurse's caps and shoes. (And yeah, it was something the politically correct would have demanded to see end altogether if they weren't focused on other issues.) Rebecca honestly didn't mind...it was something she and most everyone in her culture basically grew up with. But even she had to question why female caregivers, especially the attractive ones, had to be dressed in a way that accentuated their...well, their natural charms. Was it for the men who worked with the nurses, or maybe for the guys who _ran_ the hospitals? Or maybe it was simply to give male patients something to distract them from their pain?

Whatever the reason, Rebecca figured, it was evidence to support the argument that this was a man's world.

Then the brunette saw a much younger redheaded girl in her teens appear from around a corner to talk to one of the nurses as she carried a clipboard...she was similarly dressed, but she had bubblegum-pink pinstripes to accentuate her short dress. Rebecca couldn't believe it...this hospital had _candy stripers?_ She thought they went extinct! But nope, this girl was here volunteering as a nurse's assistant at the hospital when she wasn't in high school...the sweet-faced redhead was even chewing gum at the moment. Rebecca thought the candy striper made her look positively conservative...then she thought of the girl's not-yet-legal age, and if this was an administrative decision to dress nurses and their volunteer assistants like this, then Doctor Young had to be a damned pervert.

Rebecca Chambers moved up to the counter of the station and looked at an African-American nurse working at her computer station. The BSAA agent said, "Hi! Can I see Head Nurse Park, please?"

The nurse looked at her curiously. "Are you here for a patient, miss?"

"Oh no, I'm here for a meeting, and I was told I should see the Head Nurse at this time - !"

"_You're_ Rebecca Chambers?" The bemused voice came from behind Rebecca, and she turned to see a lady of exotic Korean descent who was probably born to wear a nurse's uniform, she was so beautiful. She was over ten years older than Rebecca, yet looked about the agent's age. Her glossy, jet-black hair was done up in a bun as she wore her nurse's cap. The lady had her hands on her hips as her almond-shaped eyes assessed Rebecca and commented, "I'm sorry, Doctor Young told me you're a bioterrorist agent, but I didn't expect anyone so...um, cute!" Her smile was truly kind, yet there was also a natural and undeniable authority to the lady's persona. Her hospital I.D. on her breast pocket said _Head Nurse G. Park_.

Rebecca defensively asked by thought, _"Cheryl...?"_

Rebecca heard Cheryl's thoughts answer in her mind: _"It's okay, Becca. She's not an enemy. She doesn't know anything about the parasites or The Order."_

Relieved, Rebecca smiled back and said lightly, "I always take 'cute' as a compliment, thanks!" The agent stepped toward her and asked, "You're the Head Nurse of this hospital, Gwendolyn Park?"

"Yes, and call me Gwen, please." Gwen offered her hand to Rebecca, who gladly took it and they shook hands gently.

"Rebecca!" Then the pixie-like girl frowned a little. "Uh, where's Doctor Young...?"

"Here I am!" The declaration from Doctor Burton Young as he arrived from the left almost made Rebecca jump. The old doctor was still his pensive, nervous self, perhaps moreso even though he was in his own hospital. The ladies looked at him as he laughed nervously. "Ha-ha, my apologies, I had some paperwork to attend to. Good to see you again, Agent Chambers."

Rebecca asked him, "I hope everything's okay, Doctor?"

"Ah, just business as usual...well, as far as 'usual' goes for a hospital, at any rate!"

Gwen looked at Rebecca hopefully. "Doctor Young said you were here about the parasites. Are you here to help in some way...?"

Rebecca's eyes become solemn. "If I can, Gwen. Doctor Young said the situation is under control and that he found a solution, though. I just wanted to see the parasites and what he's doing to help those who became their hosts."

Gwen Park was genuinely surprised, and turned to look at her boss. "Is that true, Doctor? This is the first I'm hearing about it." That certainly surprised Rebecca.

Young nodded. "Yes, Gwen, it's true. I-I just wanted to keep the matter hush-hush until Monday since it's so...ah, sensitive!"

Both Rebecca and Gwen looked at him.

Rebecca heard Cheryl ask in her mind: _"You don't need me to tell you he's lying his ass off, do you?"_

The brunette agent answered, _"Nope. This guy is not a good liar. At all!"_

Then Doctor Young clapped his hands together. "W-well, then! Shall we go to the second floor? The patients in question are in our Intensive Care Unit. Gwen and I will answer any questions you might have, as well." Like he was about to give Rebecca a tour or something.

Rebecca frowned a little and nodded. "After you, Doctor."  
**  
-3-  
**  
The odor of a hospital, a heavy combination of bleach and antiseptic, is itself a major reason people don't like hospitals. Those who smell it don't automatically think of a place where people heal. The odor makes them think instinctively of disease and death.

The smell was even stronger on the second floor, in the ICU.

It was a smell that didn't help the sudden, overwhelming horror Rebecca Chambers felt in the core of her soul as her eyes turned as big as saucers...she took the sight in and reflexively whispered, "Oh, holy god..."

Doctor Young nodded, his expression grim. "Yes. Y-yes, to see these people for the first time can be...most disquieting."

'Disquieting' wasn't the best word for it..._chilling_, however, might have been better to describe what Rebecca saw in the ICU. There were seven full beds here, those who laid on them on their stomachs were connected to heart and EKG monitors, along with IVs that dripped a constant supply of sedative that kept the patients, five men and two women, unconscious. The patients' arms and wrists were also strapped securely to their bedframes with heavy leather. On each of the patients' backs was a glistening-black parasite about a foot long virtually grafted to their hosts' backs. It wasn't known in their present state if these people were experiencing any form of sleep or not as they laid on their stomachs...all of their eyes were half-open, staring at nothing, and both their pupils and irises long ago became the color of blood.

Rebecca remembered all she read from classified government case files about the parasitic lifeforms known as _Las Plagas_. They were very similar to these creatures in the ICU in the sense they took control of human victims...worse, in many cases they hideously mutated people beyond any hope of normalcy into monsters. The _Los Illuminados_ cult leader Osmund Salazar and then both the madman Albert Wesker and Tricell CEO Excella Gionne put the creatures through extensive genetic engineering to make them even more terrifying bio-organic weapons for them to control in Spain and Africa, respectively. To this day it was still unknown exactly how _Las Plagas_ became such a biohazard, whether by natural evolution, human interference, or some other cause. As she saw these black, slug-like parasites for the first time in this ICU, Rebecca had to really wonder if these creatures Cheryl said originated in Silent Hill had _any_ natural foundation at all, too.

Gwen Park was just as horrified as Rebecca was. She said to the agent with quiet anxiety, "Ever since we brought the first case here months ago, it's absolutely frightened me."

Rebecca felt Cheryl say softly yet darkly in her mind, _"Damn The Order. This is just like Silent Hill."_

Rebecca felt the instinctive, primal need to not be in this ICU anymore...but she marshalled her inner strength and asked Gwen, "Can I take a closer look, please? I-I also need to document this. I won't touch anything..."

Gwen nodded. "It should be okay. Doctor...?"

Doctor Burton Young said quietly, "Of course, Agent Chambers. B-but please keep your distance from the beds for your safety. Even under heavy sedation, if one got too close, the parasites...ah, might respond."

Rebecca stared at him. "'Respond'?"

Gwen enlightened Rebecca: "If someone gets too close to these patients, even under constant, heavy sedation, the creatures joined to them become agitated. Since they're in control of the patients' nervous systems and higher brain functions, that's potentially dangerous. We learned that the hard way early on when the second patient woke up and attacked a nurse who got too close, even though he was under at the time. We were forced to increase round-the-clock sedation dramatically since."

Rebecca Chambers nodded in understanding as her inner horror compounded terribly. She got out her iPhone from her handbag and began to use its camera. Slowly, carefully, she went to each bed and took pictures, which she'd mail directly to Chris Redfield soon...the newest patient was the first in the row, and she slowly began to make her way down the line. She couldn't help but comment on the way, "This...oh god, I wouldn't even know where to start...these poor people..." As Rebecca approached the end of the row of beds, she noticed something that made her inner axis tilt as felt a growing urge to vomit, something about the older hosts and how hideous their conditions had become. "Oh! I-it gets worse the further back I go..." Then Rebecca stopped and stared upon the victims who had been hosts the longest. She breathed, "The host's skin is _growing over_ the parasites...!"

It was one of the ugliest aspects of the whole situation, and was most dramatically present in the oldest patients. The skin of the back of each victim seemed to grow at a dramatically enhanced rate to begin to engulf and cover the parasites as they were attached to the victim. In the oldest cases, the process wasn't long from being complete. Their skin seemed to nearly swallow the parasite, part of the black creature pulsing from the shrinking opening like a hideous organ exposed to the light. The growing skin itself was a strange pale color, like wax, as it formed a literal hump on the victims' backs.

Gwen said quietly, fearfully, "We can't even guess what's causing it, Rebecca. It's some kind of process that makes the symbiosis...permanent. It makes the creatures part of the victim they have control over."

Rebecca stopped taking pictures...the iPhone she held trembled visibly in her hand, and she brought it up to her chest defensively. Her eyes were still wide as she said flatly, "This is one of the most horrible things I've ever seen in my life." And she had seen a lot.

Gwen spoke again, and there was a note of desperation in her voice as she stared at Young. This town had been forced to live with these monsters for far too long. "Doctor, you said you have a solution, a way to help these patients? Please, tell us what it is!"

Rebecca had wanted to calm herself...but as she heard Gwen's pleading voice, her horror was replaced by a primal, swiftly building outrage. The brunette put her iPhone back in her handbag and suddenly said, "You heard her, Doctor, tell us!" Rebecca looked at Young then, and an increasing anger could be seen in her eyes. She asked loudly, "I mean, how in the world can we help anyone suffering like this?! Being controlled like this?!"

But there was a sutble, not quite buried edge of accusation in her tone that made Doctor Young even more nervous. He stammered, "P-please calm down, Agent Chambers! I-I-I have sample of the solution right here with me!" The old man quickly reached under his silver suit coat...and pulled out what appeared to be a thick vial half a foot long with a secure screw top. He held the vial in display and repeated, "I-it's right here!"

Rebecca Chambers moved to the old man fast, and with a closer look saw that the vial contained a red fluid...so red it was almost black.

Cheryl Mason almost shouted into Rebecca's mind, _"My god, Becca, that's it! It's the same thing Kaufmann used to protect himself in Silent Hill!"_

Impulsively, Rebecca snatched the vial from Doctor Young, much to his and Gwen's surprise. She looked at it even more closely and almost whispered, "So _this_ is Aglaophotis?"

In reaction, Doctor Burton Young's mouth opened as his eyes turned wide with shock. He looked like a deer frozen in an onrushing truck's headlights. He managed, "H-h-how do you know what that is?! You _couldn't - !_" But Young suddenly stopped himself awkwardly as he wished he hadn't said that.

It was a wish that came too late. Rebecca's eyes narrowed as her expression hardened. Gwen Park's face told so much...she looked at the doctor she trusted and believed in for so long with unsure, fearful eyes as she tried to understand what the hell was going on. Young began to speak, to try to explain himself. "I-I mean - !" Too late.

Rebecca Chambers was suddenly, almost literally in his face and she yelled, "Don't even _try_ lying to me again, Doctor!" She was outraged, horrified to her core for these people possessed, suddenly desperate to know what Young and The Order were doing in Black Falls, and most importantly she wanted with all of her heart and soul to protect Cheryl Mason. Rebecca had lost her patience and she began rattling the old doctor's cage with zeal. "I know Aglaophotis isn't something you just created! _It's connected to Silent Hill, and so are those godforsaken parasites!_ Remember your old buddy, Michael Kaufmann?! He kept some of this, didn't he? _Didn't he?!_"

Young looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack. He didn't defend himself. He didn't try to tell her to leave. Completely stunned, he tried to ask, "H-how could you _know...?!_"

Unrelenting, Rebecca said passionately, "That doesn't matter! What DOES matter is you start telling me the truth, and you start now! Why is this happening? Why are you working for The Order?!" She then gestured at the line of beds angrily and demanded, "_Why do they want_ THIS?!" Rebecca turned back to Young and began, "You start talking right now, or - !"  
_  
PAIN!_ It came to Rebecca Chambers without warning as she spoke, and was so terribly overwhelming as the agony assaulted her mind she could only sigh breathlessly instead of scream at the top of her lungs as her eyes squeezed shut and every muscle in her petite body turned rigid...imagine how it would feel to have a medieval knight run a lance through your skull and you weren't given the blessing of death, and it would have been close. Along with the pain came a strange white noise that drove into the core of her being, as well. As she still held the vial and her handbag in her balled hands, even as Gwen Park bolted into motion to help the stricken agent and Doctor Young looked at her with sudden confusion, Rebecca was driven to her knees and it took all of her inner strength to slow her fall, and she did barely before she dropped to all fours. She wanted to die, the pain was so intense.  
**  
-4-  
**  
At ground level outside of the hospital, Cheryl Mason felt the same dominating pain overwhelm her within and the ethreal whine that assaulted her physical senses at the same time as Rebecca as she sat against the wall on the sidewalk. As her eyes squeezed shut, her full lips peeled back as she clenched her teeth and barely kept herself from screaming. Cheryl's slender hands became fists and she placed them on either side of her head as she fought desperately against the sudden, complete torment she felt. But as she did, she felt a dread...because she _recognized_ this pain, this white noise. It felt familiar - !

Only a moment later, Cheryl understood why as she heard a stranger's voice speak within her. It was a man, and the the voice's 'sound' in her mind was as smooth as it was cold. _"Greetings, Alessa Gillespie. You and your companion are being very naughty."_

Cheryl almost felt her heart stop from shock. She thought, _"Who...who the hell are you?!"_

_"I wish I could formally introduce myself, dear Alessa. My name is Reeve. I guide what is left of the holy covenant of The Order."_

And Cheryl Mason truly did understand as she flashed back...what she was going through was the same thing that happened when she was first confronted by the high priestess of The Order thirteen years ago, on the night her father died. It was exactly what Claudia Wolf did to her, when she had been driven to her knees in overwhelming pain. Cheryl opened her eyes as she thought, _"You...you're like Claudia...you're like me! Y-you have powers!"_

She felt the cold, smooth voice say, _"Oh, my powers are far humbler than yours. I am not even close to the strength of the late Priestess Claudia Wolf...but where there is a will, there is a way. I must say it's an honor to speak to the Mother of God."_

Cheryl's eyes turned hard as she breathed through her clenched teeth, as she fought through the pain. _"I-I promise...I will make you feel differently, you son of a bitch! I'll make you wish you were never even born!"_

_"I doubt that. You still have a most important role to play, the role you were destined for. You've denied us before...that will NOT happen again, Alessa."_

Cheryl's thoughts snapped back angrily, in total defiance, _"I'm not Alessa! My name is _Cheryl_, damn you!_ That's the name my father gave me! _You - !"_

Then the pain and the white noise ended, just like that. Cheryl Mason remembered to breathe again as she sat on the sidewalk...she lowered her fists as they trembled. Then, horribly, she realized that she hadn't been the only recipient of this assault. She whispered, "Oh...oh, dammit...! Rebecca!"

The bastard hurt her, too...!  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 is here, sorry for the delay! Previously, Rebecca and Cheryl suffered an attack by the leader of The Order, Reeve. Unfortunately, things are about to get worse. FAR worse. Plus, someone new joins the cast...you'll recognize her if you played SILENT HILL: DOWNPOUR!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGEMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

**"TAKEN"**

**-1-**

**Brahms, Maine**

**At the same moment Cheryl Mason and Rebecca Chambers were attacked in their minds, at 4:14 PM that Friday afternoon, Captain Cybil Bennett felt an inexplicable unease. **She didn't know why...truthfully, she was afraid to ask what brought the sensation on. But it was as she sat behind the desk of her office in the Brahms Police Department building that Cybil felt like something terrible was happening. Or was something _about_ to happen? What she felt made her think of Silent Hill, in spite of the fact she didn't want to. That town had always haunted her, even during her happiest days in the years afterward, when she became a wife and mother, was promoted up the ranks to Captain. The darksome memories of Silent Hill never faded, and only made her hold all that was good in life even more precious. Cybil knew how truly blessed she was to be alive because of a truly remarkable man named Harry Mason, who she still mourned, and the power of his extraordinary daughter, Cheryl.

But Cybil Bennett wasn't the only one to suffer the fog and darkness of Silent Hill...and she was about to meet another.

As her disquiet eased, a knock came from the other side of her office door. Cybil said, "Yes?"

The wood door opened, and a woman looked in carefully. The pretty woman had short black hair in contrast to her porcelain skin, which made Cybil think of the cute bioterrorist agent who visited her last Sunday. But the lady was dressed for business, her slender frame dressed in the dour blue uniform of a corrections officer from Wayside Maximum Security Prison. The woman asked, "Captain Bennett?"

Cybil looked at the woman with curiosity. "Yes, can I help you?"

The black-haired woman entered further, but there was so much unease governing her. Tentatively, she said, "This is going to sound very strange, but...I needed to talk to you about something."

Cybil asked, "You work for Wayside Corrections, right?" The visitor nodded. "Why would you need to talk to me?"

The woman looked down, suddenly uncomfortable. "What I do doesn't matter, ma'am...I-I just felt the need to see you."

Cybil Bennett could feel it then. An unspoken connection. The blonde Captain offered softly, "Please tell me why you're here."

There was such a haunted quality in the lady's strong eyes. "Not too long ago, I...I was in this place called Silent Hill. I still don't understand so much of what happened there, and I need to. I really need to." The need was so clearly there in her eyes, as well. "I've asked around, looking for someone else who has been there. I heard your name mentioned more than once, Captain."

Cybil Bennett stood from behind her desk...her soft expression on her face reflected that same need. "Close the door behind you." The visitor did. "And please...call me Cybil. What's your name, officer?"

The black-haired beauty nodded gently and answered, "Anne Cunningham. I mean, call me Anne, Cybil."

They both had a lot to talk about.  
**  
-2-**

**Black Falls, Vermont**

"Rebecca!" Head Nurse Gwen Park was on her knees next to Rebecca Chambers as she was on all fours. The pain had finally, thankfully began to subside for the agent, as it had for Cheryl Mason after the invisible attack from the leader of The Order, Reeve. Still, Rebecca was so overwhelmed she couldn't answer Gwen at first as she stared at the ICU floor, trying to get her bearings. Gwen gently asked the agent, "Rebecca, what's wrong?!"

Then Rebecca felt Cheryl Mason's voice softly reach into her mind: _"Becca! Are you all right?"_

_"Ohhh...I-I don't know," _Rebecca answered. _"I feel like someone opened my skull and took an ice cream scoop to my brains...!"_

_"I'll be right there! Stay where you are!"_

Rebecca suddenly thought, _"No! No, it's all right...I'll come to you! Just stay outside, okay?"_

Reluctantly, Cheryl answered, _"Okay, I...I'll be right here."_

Rebecca looked up shakily at Gwen and managed a nervous smile. "Hey...I-I'm sorry..." As Gwen was focused on her face the brunette's hands, which still held the Aglaophotis and her handbag, moved and she quickly put the vial in her bag without the Head Nurse or Doctor Young noticing. Rebecca instinctively felt it might be very important to hold onto the mysterious substance.

Gwen smiled back, her eyes full of concern. "Don't you dare apologize. What happened...?"

Then Doctor Young stepped up to them both and said nervously, "Ah...uh, help Agent Chambers out of here, Gwen! I mean, for her safety. I-in her state, she might agitate the creatures, remember!"

Gwen gave the doctor a glance...a deliberately neutral one...and then turned fully to Rebecca, who she began to help stand. "Here, Rebecca...come on, I'll help you out of here." Slowly, Gwen did just that and put a supporting arm around the petite girl's shoulders...the Head Nurse slowly helped the agent out of the ICU. Doctor Young watched them leave...

...and then he felt Reeve speak into his mind with cold urgency: _"Burton!"_

"Ahk...!" Taken off his guard, Young responded angrily in both thought and voice. "Reeve, you know I hate when you invade my mind like this - !"  
_  
"Oh, shut up. I just saved us both a lot of trouble. The time is coming soon, and nothing can interfere with that!"_

Young frowned. "The time for what?! Y-you told me again and again that today is important to you, but I still don't know - !"

Reeve cut him short by communicating ominously, _"It's best you don't, Burton. You have played an important role for me and my followers, so take my word for it._ It's best you don't know._"_ A brief pause. _"For the time being, I think you can volunteer at least a little of what you remember about Silent Hill to the Chambers girl before she leaves."_

Perplexed, Young asked, "A-are you serious?!"  
_  
"Relax. The information isn't critical to the plan, and it won't endanger you. Just listen carefully..."_

Not far from the elevators, in a lounge area outside of the ICU, Gwen helped Rebecca sit in a chair. The brunette looked considerably better than she did before, but Gwen wanted to be sure. The Head Nurse knelt close to the agent and asked, "Rebecca, are you okay? What happened just now...?"

Rebecca managed a smile and shook her head as she gripped the top of her handbag in her hands. "I think I had the mother of all headaches, or pretty close to it...but I'm okay." She managed to stand, and so did Gwen. Rebecca reassured, "Really, Gwen, I'm okay. I'm feeling better..."

"I-I'm truly happy to hear that, Agent Chambers." Doctor Young entered the lounge, and his expression was one of gentle nervousness. "Eh, just in case though, maybe Gwen can check you over to be sure? I-I can get you a Tylenol - !"

Rebecca said quickly, "No!" But she looked at Gwen with a grateful gaze and told the Head Nurse, "You don't have to do anything for me, Gwen. I'm really feeling better." Gwen nodded, and then Rebecca looked at Doctor Young with unkind, accusing eyes. "Make no mistake, Doctor Young, we're not done with this conversation, you understand? I still have questions you need to answer!" She frowned then and said to Gwen, "I-I need to go."

Gwen nodded but asked, "Are you sure?"

Rebecca nodded. "Yeah, I need to see someone. Thank you."

Rebecca moved to the elevators and hit the call button to take one down. But...Doctor Young followed her and said, "Agent Chambers!" She turned to him, and the look in her eyes said she wasn't in the mood to talk then. Still, Young said, "You mentioned Silent Hill. It's been a very long time since I've called that place home. How are things there?"

Rebecca stared at him and said quietly, "Silent Hill is dead, Doctor...but I'm sure you already know that. I'm here because I don't want what happened there to happen again."

Young nodded. "I...I remember this woman, Dahlia Gillespie. A very strange woman." The elevator chime sounded, and one of the sets of doors opened. Rebecca turned to it and began to enter it, not caring to hear about someone she knew was dead. Young then said, "I-I'd always wondered how her daughter Alessa was!"

In the middle of the elevator car's threshold, Rebecca stopped cold. She slowly turned to Young again, and her eyes were full of confusion. "Excuse me?"

Young said, "Alessa Gillespie. If I remember right, she was a very quiet girl. I-I was there to help Dahlia deliver Alessa into the world. That would have been...oh dear, this makes me feel old. In 1969, if I remember correctly." The elevator's doors almost closed twice as Rebecca simply looked at the doctor with a strange expression...and then she turned quickly into the elevator, punched the button for the ground floor needfully, and the doors closed.

Head Nurse Gwen Park then entered the elevator area from behind Doctor Young, and her high-heeled steps were brisk as she moved to the call button and hit the button to go up. Her posture was ramrod-straight and tense. Young asked nervously, "G-Gwen? Are you all right?" The lady didn't answer, but she did turn to look at Young. The frown on her face, the curious gaze in her eyes, spoke volumes. Young felt a sudden apprehension as he asked carefully, "Gwen...?" But Gwen Park only looked at him...and then a chime sounded again just before another set of elevator doors opened, and she moved into the car quickly. Its doors closed with finality.

Then Burton Young felt a presence behind him and a smooth voice said, "Doctor." The old man turned, and immediately his nervousness became something close to terror. The man named Reeve looked back at him. "It seems your Head Nurse questions you now, but she should have little impact on the plan as it unfolds."

Young asked, "Why did you want me to tell Chambers about Dahlia and her little girl? Th-the way she reacted just now..."

"Ah, yes. Rebecca Chambers and the woman she knows as Cheryl Mason need each other, and therefore need to believe in each other. What would happen if their faith in each other is damaged?" The smooth voice didn't wait for a response from Young and gave the answer: "They become vulnerable." Reeve then hit the speed dial on the cell phone in his hand, lifted it to his ear, and waited for an answer. The smooth voice then said into the cell, "The time has finally arrived, so would you kindly proceed? Wait until you judge to be the best possible moment. Preferably with no witnesses!"

As Reeve spoke, Doctor Young realized something with a burst of shock...the Chambers girl took his vial of Aglaophotis! However, he kept what he knew to himself. Young didn't want Reeve angry with him.  
**  
-3-  
**  
Rebecca Chambers quickly walked out of the hospital...Cheryl Mason, who still held her Huey the Horse plush animal in one hand, saw her and smiled with elemental relief and rushed to her.

But when Cheryl reached the brunette, her smile fell.

The blonde felt a sudden, inexplicable dread as Rebecca looked at her with wide eyes full of confusion...and worse, there was _doubt_ in those lovely eyes.

Rebecca's face became a mix of emotions as she moved from Cheryl then to walk across the street. The blonde asked after her, "Becca...?" Cheryl's dread increased as she followed Rebecca across Barker to the west side of Kubrick Street. The pace of the brunette's steps were quick, and the blonde had to catch up. Cheryl called to the agent then, "Rebecca!" It didn't help Cheryl's mood she didn't receive an answer. "Rebecca...!"

They walked almost a block before Rebecca turned into an alley between a laundromat and a hardware store...Cheryl followed close behind. She tried again: "Rebecca, please stop for a minute!"

Softly, fearfully, Rebecca finally responded. "Not now...please!"

They walked a short distance further until they intersected with another alley, and Rebecca turned right. The brunette finally stopped behind the employee parking for the hardware store...only a couple of vehicles were parked there. Otherwise, it looked like they were alone. Cheryl walked up to Rebecca and asked impatiently, "Oh, we can finally stop now...?"

Rebecca turned to Cheryl, and the fear and doubt were so bright in her eyes...the blonde fell silent. The agent said with foreboding, "Cheryl...I...I needed you alone for a minute. Far away from anyone else."

Faith, like love, had a value that couldn't ever be calculated. It was literally precious, and therefore it was just as fragile. Faith could be easily bruised, even shattered with enough force.

The faith these women had in each other, for each other, was about to be tested.

Rebecca Chambers asked quietly, reluctantly, "Why did that voice call you Alessa Gillespie?"

Cheryl Mason stared at her. "Y-you heard Reeve's voice, too?" Rebecca nodded. She should have realized Rebecca heard...they were connected by thought at the time. The blonde frowned sadly as she answered truthfully, "Because that was the name Dahlia gave me when I was born. Alessa." The blonde quickly added, "Rebecca, that's not important! Reeve has powers, like Claudia did...!"

Rebecca gently but firmly interrupted: "Yes, it is important. Cheryl, I need you to start telling me everything right now. I mean _everything_, you understand?"

"Rebecca, please, I told you that you can believe in me - !"

Suddenly, the brunette said loudly, "Can I?! Can I _really?_" The blonde girl reacted like she had been slapped in the face and visibly flinched, and her eyes expressed a sudden, soul-deep pain. The BSAA agent felt terrible then and she said, "I-I'm sorry, Cheryl...the _last_ thing I want is to hurt you. You've never lied to me, I know that." And yet...she couldn't help but look down and say in frustration, "I know that, but there's still so much you're keeping from me, things I _need_ to know!" Rebecca then looked into Cheryl's eyes again and asked with worry, "Or maybe you still don't trust _me...?_"

Defensively, Cheryl said, "Dammit, Becca, you know I trust you! But I warned you long ago that you'd never believe so much of what I haven't told you yet!"

Rebecca frowned. "And I should just take that on faith!"

"Yes! And I swear you can have faith in _me_, Becca! I would never, ever lie to you! _I'd never do anything to hurt you!_" Cheryl Mason meant every word of what was an oath to the one she held so dearly.

Rebecca Chambers looked at her with a soft, needful expression and promised, "And I'd never hurt you...I promised I'd never, ever fail you." However. The frustration was still in her heart. The nagging questions. "Cheryl, you've got to understand that what I _do_ know doesn't make much sense when it's put together! You've told me so much about Silent Hill, about your mother and The Order, about that other doctor who worked for them, Michael Kaufmann! All of the stuff you told me fits, but you were born when the town died, when Harry Mason took you from Silent Hill as a newborn baby! But you were born in 1983, _and that means you couldn't know so much!"_

"Becca..." Cheryl was suddenly unsure of what to say.

"You told me you were born in 1983, Cheryl...you said you were in high school at the time I was in college in '98!"

Cheryl nodded. "I was in high school that year, but...but I never told you when I was born."

"Well, Doctor Young just told me that Alessa - I mean you were born in 1969! So either he's wrong or you are, because you couldn't have been born in 1969. If that was true, you'd be in your forties now, and you told me last night you were a few years younger than I am!" She laughed nervously, "U-unless you're older than you look...!"

Cheryl said softly, "You'd be surprised." There was so much knowledge in the blonde's sad eyes. "Becca...I said that there was so much about this, about me you couldn't believe because you haven't lived my life or seen the same things I have..."

"Wait," Rebecca said, and there was even more uncertainty in her voice. "I never asked you about the _other_ Cheryl Mason who was born in 1977. The girl Harry Mason's wife Josie had before she died a couple of years later - "

Cheryl nodded, her expression suddenly mournful. "From an illness, yeah. I wish I was given a chance to know her. I know dad loved her so much. But Harry was all I had, the only one who ever truly loved me before he took me back to Silent Hill - !"

Rebecca stared at her with wide eyes. "What did you just say...?"

Cheryl realized. "B-Becca, I..."

In spite of the elemental need, the desire that grew between these young women, in spite of her faith in the blonde, Rebecca Chambers suddenly said, "Cheryl, _flush_ your being worried about what I will believe and won't believe and tell me the truth! Tell me who I'm talking to, please!" Her lips trembled as she asked, "I-I mean, am I talking to Alessa, who was born in 1969?! Or am I talking to the Cheryl Mason who was born in 1977?! Or the one born in 1983?! _Tell me!_"

Cheryl Mason was silent for a moment as her sad, haunted eyes looked into Rebecca's...and she answered, "_I'm all three_, Becca." The BSAA agent could only stare at her. The blonde said quietly, "You said you have an open mind. You said you believe I haven't lied to you, and I would never lie to you. So here it is." And Cheryl Mason began...

"I was born Alessa Gillespie in 1969, a child who grew up without love. Then my mother Dahlia performed a ritual on me, and I wasn't just raped...I wasn't just made the Mother of her cult's God..._I was burned alive_. I was in so much horrible pain, I wanted to escape...I wanted to defy my mother and The Order, keep myself from giving birth to their God. And I got my wish...in a way.

"I-I think my power made it happen, I can't be sure...I _do_ know my soul was divided in two: one half of me stayed in Alessa's burned, ruined body in Silent Hill...the other was reincarnated as a newborn baby, a baby found on the side of a road outside of town by Harry and Josie Mason. They adopted me and named me Cheryl, and they both gave me so much love...then Josie died, and my father and I only had each other. He made sure I didn't want for anything...I knew love as the other part of me, Alessa, was trapped in Silent Hill, kept alive and in constant torment. The suffering I went through caused...other things to happen, not just the fog. In 1983, I - Cheryl, I mean - felt the need to go to Silent Hill...maybe I sensed my other half there, maybe Dahlia used magic to lure me there...I'm not sure."

"Magic...?" Rebecca Chambers couldn't help but nervously breathe that word as she stared at Cheryl Mason, incredulous. "Y-you're seriously talking about magic." All of this time Rebecca, a prodigy who graduated from college at the age of 18, had automatically placed a firm foundation of reality to everything Cheryl told her thus far. She believed in science, what was natural, what could be seen, what could be proven. Even the fantastic horrors Rebecca survived in a forest mansion in 1998 were creations of genetic engineering or the victims of viral research.

But magic was the stuff of fairy tales...or horror stories. It took more faith to believe in magic than to believe in a given religion. The mystical things from ghosts to lei lines, what was supernatural, what couldn't be seen or easily proven. Things that so many believers in science wrote off instantly as constructs of imagination. To hear the word _magic_ made Rebecca feel a frightening uncertainty in her soul.

And the brunette thought of what the haunted blonde girl said about The Order and human sacrifices in the name of protection and power, wanting Cheryl to be the mother of their God...she meant all of those things _literally_. Rebecca's wide eyes were troubled as she asked nervously, "Cheryl...your power...i-is your power magic, too...?"

Cheryl looked down and said quietly, "I meant it when I said there was so much that would be beyond you, Becca." The blonde looked up into Rebecca's eyes again and continued. "Harry took me to Silent Hill...and The Order trapped us. We were separated by the fog and by...worse things. My dad fought one horror after another to save me, to make me safe again. And dad did save me, but again it was only in a way. Dahlia forced Alessa and Cheryl to become one again, I gave birth to a partly formed God, and..." Cheryl paused, her eyes full of fear and pain. "What Dahlia and The Order believed in was a monster, an ancient and terrible horned _demon_. But the thing was still partly formed, and fortunately dad killed her before she could gain real strength. And I...I-I was dying...but I used all of my power to create an infant child I could reincarnate in. You could say I became my own mother. Then Harry and a police officer who helped him, Cybil Bennett, took the baby away as I died...and then I was born. I-I mean, I was born again.

"I didn't remember my past lives and all that happened to me in Silent Hill. Dad must have thought it was a good thing...looking back, he thought I could start again with a clean slate. Have a normal life. But I still felt...different as I grew up. I felt like something was wrong with me, something that set me apart from everyone else. It was why I was a loner, and why I never felt like I could fit in anywhere." Her eyes closed as she said, full of sorrow, "When I was 17, Claudia and The Order had my father killed in the name of revenge. They still needed me to be the Mother of God, but I defeated them. But because of them, because I had to return to Silent Hill, I remembered everything...and I wish I didn't. I'd give anything to forget what I went through again. Ever since all I've wanted was to live a normal life like my dad wanted, but as long as The Order lives, I'll always be threatened...and no one will be safe."

Rebecca continued to stare at Cheryl. She tried to understand, to really accept everything Cheryl told her. The agent knew again in her gut the blonde wasn't lying. She wouldn't. But it was all so unreal to her: magic, reincarnation, demons...she was still trying to take Cheryl's word that she brought a never-ending fog to Silent Hill on faith. But everything Rebecca just heard...she truly struggled to believe it, but...

"It's too much, isn't it? Even for an open mind." Rebecca focused on Cheryl Mason, who smiled sourly. "It's okay...it really is." Then sadness overwhelmed the blonde girl as she looked down and whispered, "By the way: pigs can fly."

Rebecca Chambers couldn't think of anything to say. What could she say to someone she wanted with all her heart to believe in, but she couldn't put faith into so much of what she told her? Didn't that weaken her faith in Cheryl as a consequence? Rebecca realized she couldn't accept that! In the name of the feelings they both felt for each other, she _wouldn't_. Rebecca softly began, "Cheryl...!"  
**  
-4-  
**  
How quickly can a beautiful Friday afternoon go completely, horrifyingly wrong?

Before Rebecca could say another word, a man's voice shouted, "FREEZE! NEITHER OF YOU MOVE!" Both Cheryl and Rebecca looked to see three people marching down the alley from Kubrick Street toward them, and the women froze. The trio, two men flanking a woman, all wore dark clothes and black ski masks over their faces, and they each carried a small handgun they pointed at the blonde and brunette. Rebecca, who knew a lot about guns, recognized them as old Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolvers of blued steel.

The female gunman in the group focused on Rebecca as they approached and shouted, "You, put your hands up RIGHT NOW! We know you're a government agent!"

Rebecca's entire being tensed, but she didn't raise her hands...she demanded, "What do you want - ?!" She knew she was in a terrible position: these masked people had the drop on her, and her Beretta was still snugly in her handbag.

The female of the three yelled, "Shut up! We came for the Mother! Step away from her!" And Cheryl Mason knew without a doubt. They were Order Soldiers.

The other man in the group looked at Cheryl and said, "We don't want to hurt you, but you're coming with us!"

The three got closer, and Cheryl's being stiffened as she held Huey at her side. Her eyes became cold and she said, "I'm not going _anywhere_ with you."

Rebecca stepped closer to the blonde, wanting to defend her. "You leave Cheryl alone - !"

The first man shouted at the agent, "DON'T MOVE! You move one more time, WE'LL KILL YOU!"

The lady leading the Soldiers snapped, "Kill that interloper anyway! She means nothing!"

The group was only twenty feet away. Cheryl said harshly, "Don't you threaten Becca!"

As she thought desperately to think of a solution for Cheryl's sake, Rebecca turned to the blonde. "Cheryl - !"

The female Soldier gestured at Rebecca and ordered in a cold voice, "Kill her!"

Immediately, the man on her right obeyed and he thumbed the hammer back of his .38 and pointed it at Rebecca, and the agent knew she lost any chance -

BLAMM! The moment the first Order Soldier squeezed the trigger of his gun, it exploded and his gunhand went with it - but the blast wasn't just of fire and blood, but of a bright blue energy that made the detonation of the weapon happen. There was only a gory, ragged stump where his hand once was. Rebecca could only watch as the man clutched his wrist above the stump with his other hand and screamed, and then she saw that shrapnel from the gun had also hit his comrades. The woman was screaming too, and she had dropped her gun to lift both hands to clutch at her bloody masked face...one of her eyes was literally gone. The other masked man was far, far unluckier...a piece of metal from the gun tore into his throat. He was staring at Cheryl with wide, childlike eyes as his ruined jugular vein in the ragged tear of his neck fired a jet of blood into the air at a fast, pulsing pace that matched his weakening heartbeats.

Rebecca Chambers was stunned. How the hell did that happen?! She looked at herself quickly and saw no shrapnel or anything had hit her. Rebecca then looked at Cheryl...and she froze, her own eyes widening with fear and wonder.

Cheryl Mason's once-hazel eyes - not just the irises but the pupils, as well - had literally brightened to become a luminous, supernatural blue and rivaled the intensity of the sun above. Their brightness was only matched by the pure anger in her beautiful face as she looked at the three masked Soldiers. Cheryl snarled, "You bastards. You wanted to hurt Becca. I can't forgive that...and I won't." She looked at the man with the ravaged neck and watched him crash to his knees...and then he keeled over onto his face as he went into shock; in only moments, he would be dead. "No great loss," Cheryl said coolly. Then she turned to the two surviving Soldiers and said, "You're not getting off so easily." Cheryl focused on the masked woman and said, "You. Ignore your face and pick up your gun. Right now."

Rebecca could only watch numbly as the masked woman did what Cheryl wanted, her expression suddenly blank...except that there was a helpless, trapped horror in her remaining eye. Rebecca was seeing only a sample of the power at Cheryl Mason's command, the same power the blonde said she had always been afraid of. But there was no fear at that moment in Cheryl's bright eyes as she said, "Take that gun and shoot your friend."

Rebecca watched the masked woman point her gun at the man with one hand. She fired once, and a bullet tore into the man's head. He fell limply to the ground, executed. Rebecca could only speak in a whisper... "Cheryl..."

"Your turn now," Cheryl said to the masked woman. "Shoot yourself in the head. Go on." The woman did as she was told and quietly lifted her gun to her own head.

Rebecca shook her head slowly as she tried to speak in a louder voice, "Cheryl, what are you doing...?"

Cheryl stepped up to the woman who held a gun to her own head, and her smile was cold. "Go on. Take your medicine now." Then, in a surreal moment, the masked woman with one eye smiled back at Cheryl...before she squeezed the trigger and blew her own brains out. She fell in a heap, and Cheryl said softly, "Good girl."

Cheryl Mason looked at all three of the dead Order Soldiers with elemental satisfaction as the bright blue of her eyes dimmed to nothing, and she looked at the world through hazel eyes again. Cheryl turned to Rebecca. And she felt a sudden, terrible cold.

Rebecca Chambers looked back at her with wide, terrified eyes as she lifted one of her hands to her mouth. The petite brunette could only feel then, and what she felt was pure fear. A fear of all that was beyond her. But worst of all, in that moment, Rebecca was afraid of Cheryl.

Cheryl breathed, "Becca...?" But the brunette suddenly turned and began to walk away, past a parked pickup truck behind the hardware store. Feeling a terrible, desperate fear of her own, Cheryl called out, "Becca, wait!" But then Rebecca began to launch into a run, and Cheryl felt her heart begin to break...and it was breaking slowly, so terribly, terribly _slowly_ and she felt all the guilt and self-hate again, and perhaps Rebecca was right to leave. Wasn't she a monster, after all? But her need, her desire, her feelings for Rebecca demanded Cheryl shout, "Rebecca, please wait! I-I couldn't let them hurt you! Please don't go!" But Rebecca didn't listen and Cheryl Mason felt like she was dying inside as she feared she lost the beautiful brunette, lost the only one she knew could make her happy, lost any chance to make her happy in turn, and she screamed, "PLEASE DON'T GO! I-I CAN'T LOSE YOU!"

And Rebecca Chambers stopped. She heard Cheryl's pleading voice, and it was a mirror of her own...because deep in the core of her soul, Rebecca knew she couldn't have left Cheryl. She would sooner have cut out her own heart. As she breathed shakily, it again felt so damn wrong, it hurt terribly for there to be any distance between them. The brunette fought against her fear, a fear that led to the single greatest regret of her entire life, a regret she couldn't focus on then because it was Cheryl who was important, and she swore long ago that she would never let her fear compromise her choices or decide the direction of her life again, ever. And she couldn't have been afraid of Cheryl...really thinking about it, she hated herself as she realized that all that amazing girl did was defend her. Cheryl would have given anything to protect Rebecca, and that was what she did...if she only had given the chance, the slightest opportunity to use her gun, Rebecca knew she wouldn't have hesitated to kill all three of those masked, armed Soldiers to protect Cheryl, as well.

Rebecca felt all the things Cheryl did, how warm and perfect and so amazingly right it was for them to be together...and oh, that far-too-brief kiss itself in front of the hospital was perfection, and promised things they couldn't even imagine. Rebecca had found the one, the only one in this chaotic world who could make her happy...no, they made each other happy on levels they knew no one else could have. What they felt at first sight had indeed evolved in a short time into something extraordinary...something that, if only it was given the chance to grow further, would become something perfectly beautiful and eternal.

Rebecca couldn't lose Cheryl, either.

That elemental truth made Rebecca Chambers turn back to Cheryl Mason. The agent's eyes were full of apology and regret, but she saw relief and happiness flood the beautiful blonde's face. As she started to walk quickly back to Cheryl, Rebecca began to yell, "Cheryl, I'm so sorry - !"

Cheryl suddenly heard a strange noise behind her as she felt a sudden, sharp pain that drove deeply into her back. She didn't understand at first, but suddenly her body felt weak as she dropped Huey the Horse...the entire world, even Rebecca, began to fade away. Cheryl lifted her arm and reached out desperately to Rebecca, but she was losing all of her strength as she felt her body fall...

...and as Cheryl fell, as the tranquilizer dart full of a highly powerful sedative did its work, her very soul reached out, as well.

Rebecca bolted into a run as she saw Cheryl fall, as she saw a man in the alley far behind her with what looked like a rifle, and she felt the blonde touch her mind again. But in this disorienting moment as she lost her consciousness, Cheryl Mason felt the desperate need to erase any doubts Rebecca Chambers had. The need to help her believe in all she told her...and that simple, innocent need combined with her power in the fleeting moment Cheryl had to use it. And she didn't just touch Rebecca's mind.  
_  
Rebecca Chambers felt sudden, total disorientation as her feet stumbled and she collapsed to the asphalt of the alley as the world around her disappeared, and she was suddenly both blessed and cursed with knowing the compressed, encapsulated memories of Cheryl Mason's previous lives in a single moment, she grew up as Alessa Gillespie in a large, dark and empty house with a mother who in spite of her youth was turning into a crone, a heartless creature obsessed with her faith and her leadership of The Order, and she knew even further loneliness in school from those who hated her for being special and subjected her to every form of abuse, but it wasn't as bad as not knowing love at all from Dahlia, who terribly for the sake of her god sought to make Alessa into a sacrifice, and she was strapped down in her own bedroom to suffer the ritual and then the nova-white agony of being burned alive, and then_

_!division!_

_something happened and Alessa was kept alive no only half-alive in the hospital with one person to care for her, the nurse in red Nurse Lisa who tried to comfort her in spite of the man who ordered her around, that heartless man Kaufmann, and she felt the embryo of the demonic god inside of her and she knew she was better off dead...and then Rebecca looked through Cheryl Mason's eyes, and central to her world was Harry Mason, the man who adopted her with his wife Josie, who passed away too soon and she never got to know her new mother, but her new father was a truly compassionate, caring man who managed to make ends meet as a writer, to never let Cheryl want for anything, and she felt so happy all of the time with her father, who encouraged her to draw, to express herself in crayon and paint, and then Cheryl felt her other self, she felt the need to return to Silent Hill, and Harry took her there not knowing what was waiting, and then there was the crash in the fog, and Harry sought his daughter out desperately, sought to protect her from Dahlia, and Silent Hill was a living nightmare, it turned from a world of endless fog to one of endless darkness and blood and decay and terror as Cheryl tried to help Alessa, to use_

_!Seal of Metatron!_

_something incredibly important but she and her father were tricked and Cheryl was captured, but Harry was relentless, his love for his daughter made him fight one terror after another as he and the brave lady in blue Cybil Bennett searched in the fog and the darkness and dear Nurse Lisa turned red and finally_

_!fusion!_

_Alessa and Cheryl became one again and she was forced to give 'birth' to the winged, horned god, a hellish beast from the worst kind of darkness, and she watched with satisfaction as the loveless Dahlia burned brightly and she felt so much pride as Harry no her father the only one who truly loved her killed the god picked the demon-beast apart with a rifle and the demon fell and died and as Kaufmann was dragged down by the red red nurse, Alessa gave herself a second chance a rebirth - !_

And then the flood of memories stopped as Cheryl Mason fell to the ground, unconscious.

Rebecca Chambers was also lying on the floor of the alley, her petite form on her side and trembling, and she was beyond overwhelmed by the memories that had been given to her. She moaned softly, "Oh...oh, my..._god_..." The memories would have disappeared over time, they had already begun to, but the knowledge they imparted to her would never fade. Rebecca's breaths were shallow as she remembered all of the loneliness and pain and worse that Cheryl Mason had to suffer in her two previous lifetimes. She remembered what it was like to be in Silent Hill, in that endless fog, and she was so thankful she didn't satisfy her curiosity and enter that damned town. Rebecca also remembered the town could turn into something worse...something so terrible she didn't want to remember. But most importantly, experiencing all that she did helped her understand once and for all that it all truly did happen. It was all true...the magic, the terrible horrors, everything...and at least some things were no longer beyond her.

Full of regret, so sorry she couldn't have had faith before, Rebecca whispered, "Oh Cheryl, forgive me...forgive me for...for not believing you...!"

She heard voices then, distant:

"Move! Hurry!"

"We need to get the Mother!"

"C'mon, back it up! C'MON!"

Still trembling like she was suddenly dropped in the middle of the freezing white of the North Pole, Rebecca looked toward the voices...toward Cheryl. She saw a new group of several masked people, more Order Soldiers, converging around the blonde girl's unconscious body. One of them, she realized, had the kind of rifle used to shoot tranquilizer darts...but some of the others were armed with revolvers. Further in the distance, at the mouth of the alley, an ambulance was backing up slowly into the narrow space, its lights flashing furiously as another Soldier guided its driver with waving arms from behind.

They were coming for Cheryl, Rebecca realized...they were going to -

"N-no..._no_..." It was an act of tremendous will on Rebecca Chambers' part to make herself stop trembling, to begin to rise from the asphalt. But it felt like she was moving in slow motion as she saw the ambulance back up closer. Rebecca was finally on her feet then, and she shakily opened her handbag to get out her Beretta 9mm pistol. At first, she weakly cried out, "Stop!"

The ambulance stopped not far from Cheryl Mason and the Soldiers surrounding her. Its back doors opened, and two paramedics got out. The men carried with them a collapsible gurney as one of the Soldiers ordered, "Pick her up carefully!" Two of his fellows did as they were told and knelt next to Cheryl...one lifted her up under her shoulders as the other lifted her legs. The gurney was almost there...

"STOP!" Far too slowly, Rebecca was getting her strength back. She was still so far away. Rebecca began to march back toward Cheryl as she readied her pistol and she screamed, "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

The Soldiers took notice of her as Cheryl was placed on the gurney. One of them yelled, "Kill that bitch, dammit! DON'T LET HER STOP US!"

Rebecca Chambers lifted her Beretta in both hands and screamed, "I SAID _STOP - !_" But some of the Soldiers lifted their revolvers and pointed them at the BSAA agent. Rebecca wanted to open fire, but with a horrible realization stopped herself. Cheryl was among them, and if she made a mistake, Rebecca might accidentally shoot her! Unfortunately, the ruthless Soldiers didn't have the same problem, and they were guided by the most evil of intentions. They began shooting at Rebecca, who had no choice but to dash to the nearby pickup truck parked behind the hardware store, and she just barely made it and was forced to cower behind the passenger side front tire for cover as bullets tore into the other side.

As those Soldiers fired their guns, another barked at them, "Keep her pinned down!" That masked man then turned to the ambulance, where Cheryl Mason was being loaded into its back doors. He yelled, _"Take her out of here!"_

Rebecca cried, "Cheryl?!" The back doors of the ambulance closed, and it moved forward, back toward the mouth of the alley. Rebecca risked peeking over the hood, and almost froze as she saw the ambulance leaving. _They were taking Cheryl, oh they were taking her!_ The agent screamed with horror, "_No! God,_ NO!" But a new volley of bullets from the armed Order Soldiers forced Rebecca to duck again.

The Soldier in the lead shouted, "Let's go, there's nothing she can do! _Fall back!_" The masked enemies then rushed away, and they followed the ambulance out of the alley.

The kidnapping had happened far too fast, within the space of a minute, and Rebecca Chambers had tried with all of her soul to do what was right, she tried desperately to help the one she adored, but she rose from behind the truck and saw how terribly she had just failed. As the enemy retreated, she screamed, "NOOOO! CHERYL?!" She ran furiously after them, but as she got closer to the three dead Soldiers the enemy left behind, they were already gone. "CHERYL!" And Rebecca knew she'd never make it to the street in time to see where they went, to even be able to follow them...she felt a terrible, nightmarish helplessness as she screamed her throat raw, _"CHERYL!"_

Cheryl Mason was gone.

Rebecca was there where the blonde girl had just laid when the Order came for her. Much of the asphalt was wet with blood, but on a part where it wasn't, the agent saw Huey the Horse lying on his side. Rebecca Chambers had begun to cry from a soul-deep agony, from a sudden and terrible loneliness without Cheryl, and she lowered to her knees and picked up the plush animal...and she embraced Huey in her arms, held it tightly as she sobbed heavily and tears flowed down her cheeks.

And _that_ was how quickly a beautiful afternoon could go straight to Hell...

...in no time at all.  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm sorry to leave you hanging, the story continues! The Order has just captured Cheryl Mason, who they want to make the Mother of their demonic God...but if they think Rebecca Chambers is just going to let that happen, they have NO idea how wrong they are! Plus: everyone's favorite gun nut from RESIDENT EVIL, Barry Burton, joins the cast!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**CHAPTER EIGHT:**

**"AN ANGEL'S FURY"**

**-1-**

**Black Falls, Vermont**  
**4:25 P.M.**

**At the precise time Rebecca Chambers and Cheryl Mason were confronted by three Order Soliders, Sheriff James Gulager was on Kubrick Street several blocks away. **The southbound lanes were still choked with stop-and-go traffic for the County Fair coming from Interstate 89, but in the opposing direction it was mostly clear...Gulager had parked his big truck at the curb on the clear side behind the vehicle of his deputy, a rail-thin yet earnest law enforcer. A few minutes ago, the deputy made an unusual traffic stop, and the Sheriff was there to see about the situation. The deputy was standing next to his truck, taking notes as fast as he could...from behind the deputy's vehicle, a person with bright blonde hair could be seen sitting inside, in the back seat. Gulager approached his subordinate and asked, "What have you got, Barney?"

His deputy, Barney, answered enthusiastically, "One spirited blonde, Sheriff! I caught her just a few minutes ago trying to drive that dirt bike on the sidewalk!" He pointed at the brightly colored red, white and blue motocross cycle sitting on the sidewalk in front of the laundromat across the street. "She was going south, trying to bypass all the traffic. I stopped her, though!"

Gulager nodded. "I can see that. What made her want to do something that stupid?"

"She said she got lost on her way to this big motorcross thing down in Massachusetts - !"

"The word's motocross, Barney."

"Oh! Uh, anyway, she said she didn't want to be late because of the traffic. She should've just stuck to the interstate."

"I'm guessing she's no local."

"No, sir! She's from Burlington."

"What's her name?"

Barney had the girl's Vermont driver license with his notepad, and he offered it to the Sheriff. "Here's her license, sir!" As his boss took it, the deputy began, "Her name's - !" He stopped when he heard a distant yet loud noise, from deeper in town. Cheryl Mason just made a man's gun explode as he held it. "What the hell...?"

Gulager was looking at the license with a frown. "It's nothing, Barney. Just a firecracker. Kids these days."

"That didn't exactly sound like a firecracker, sir!"

The tall, hard man gave Barney a look. "Deputy, I've been doing this a lot longer than you have. You can trust my word it's a firecracker."

The meeker law enforcer finally nodded, but he was unsure. "Uh...okay."

James Gulager gave the lady's license back to Barney. "Anyway, I can see her name on her license for myself. You said she's spirited?"

Barney nodded. "Yes, sir! I'm guessing she's into those energy drinks, like a lot of kids these days - !" He was stopped cold by a loud yet briefer noise from the same direction as the last disturbance. A man was shot in the head because Cheryl wanted it to happen. Barney looked deeper into town, nervous. "Uh, Sheriff..."

Gulager was looking in that direction too, but his expression was neutral. He grunted, "Just another firecracker, Barney." He looked back at his subordinate. "Girl's only 19 years old, according to her license. And she's into motocross?"

"Er, yessir! I hate the idea of a girl as pretty as she is getting into a wreck. I can't tell you how many Internet videos I've seen of extreme sports nuts cracking up and breaking something!"

Gulager was indifferent about it. "Being young means being stupid, Deputy."

"Well, this girl looks pretty smart to - !" A brief, sharp report just sounded again. A woman killed herself. Barney mused, "Good grief, I could swear that's a - !"

"It's nothing. Just some kids getting happy with their fireworks."

"Sir - !"

Gulager's eyes turned hard as he stared at his deputy. "It was _nothing_, Barney. Take my word for it. You hear me?"

Barney quickly, nervously nodded. "Y-yessir!" He looked reflexively at his truck, at the blonde inside it. "Uh, I ran her license, and she's got a clean record. What should I do?"

Gulager couldn't see the blonde's face from his position, and he didn't care to. "Well, even a village idiot would know better than to drive a motor vehicle on a sidewalk, right?"

"Actually, she was just going five miles an hour, sir! Clocked her on my radar gun before I stopped her. Sorry, I should've mentioned that."

"Maybe you should have."

"Anyway, she said she was trying to be careful. She didn't want to run into any pedestrians, sir."

"Still...take her back to the office and lock her in a cell." Gulager quickly added, "But don't book her or anything."

"Okay! Uh, why?"

"To teach this silly girl she has to obey the law, even if she's late. I'll let her out in a couple of hours with a warning. Understand?"

Barney grinned then. "Ha-ha, yessir! You'd be one tough parent, Sheriff!"

Gulager growled, "I hate kids, Barney. You ought to know that."

"Oh."

"Anyway, get to it, Barney."

"Yes, sir! Uh, what should I do with her bike?"

"Just leave it where it is. Or you can take it back to the office with you." Before he had the chance to say anything else, Gulager and his deputy heard a sudden and dramatic amount of those same reports that Barney thought (correctly) were gunshots from deeper in town. It lasted for a couple of moments before the noises dwindled to silence.

The deputy looked scared out of his mind, absolutely sure that something was terribly wrong. "My god, Sheriff! What's going on...?"

"Barney." The deputy turned to James Gulager, who again gave him a granite-hard stare. "For the last time, they're firecrackers. Don't go and overreact."

"B-but - !"

Then Sheriff Gulager's cell phone rang. He said in a nearly dismissive tone to his deputy, "Hold on a minute." He turned and as he walked away a couple of paces, Gulager opened his phone, hit the green button, and answered, "Yes!"

A smooth voice, like motor oil running on ice, spoke into the Sheriff's ear. "Good afternoon, Sheriff. I just wanted to inform you my people have Cheryl Mason."

Gulager lowered his voice to a harsh whisper...if Barney had seen his face, he would have seen how furious his boss was. "Reeve, I heard a shitload of gunshots! What the hell just - !"

"It was nothing."

Gulager was too outraged to realize he was suddenly in the same place his deputy was a moment before. "Nothing?!"

"Yes, nothing. It would be in your best interests if you didn't ask."

The Sheriff thought in his mind, _Goddamn you, Reeve!_ But...partly out of fear, partly because it would indeed have been better if he knew as little as possible, he told the leader of The Order, "Don't worry, I won't."

"Also, would you kindly collect Rebecca Chambers? The last my people saw her, she's in the alley behind the hardware store."

Gulager said coldly, "I told you killing her would cost you extra, Reeve."

Reeve sighed impatiently, "Then arrest the girl and put her in one of your jail cells, if you want! Either way, it's very important that she is no longer in a position to interfere with with our holy work, _especially_ during the next half hour. When you're done, come see me at the hospital."

Gulager frowned. "For what?"

"Again, it's in your best interests. Things are going to change very soon, and you'll need protection."

"Protection? From _what_, Reeve?"

"Simply trust in me, Sheriff. Goodbye."

Gulager closed his cell angrily, wondering again why he ever agreed to work for that bastard. Of course he already knew the answer, and it was blood simple: he no longer cared to serve others, and the money he was offered was too much to resist. But at that moment, he wondered if selling his badge to the likes of Reeve was worth _any_ amount of money.

Behind him, Barney asked carefully, "Uh, Sheriff?"

James Gulager finally turned to look at Barney and said, "I got a call from Hank at the hardware store, Barney. It was just kids messing with fireworks, like I said. I've got to go." As he walked to his truck, he glanced back and said loudly, "Remember what I said about that girl, too!"

Barney nodded. "Yes, sir!"

Gulager started up his truck, backed up a few yards, and did a roaring u-turn to drive south down the northbound lanes.  
**  
-2-  
**  
Less than two blocks from the site of Cheryl Mason's kidnapping, the man known as Reeve shut down his cell as he stood at a window on the second floor of Wyler Community Hospital. He saw the ambulance arrive, turn into the hospital's parking lot and approach the side of the building. It was going straight to the Emergency Room Entrance. He couldn't help but smile.

The ambulance stopped in front of the entryway, where Doctor Burton Young waited...he was flanked by two people on each side of him, their eyes cold and serious. The four Order Soldiers moved from Young quickly to the back of the ambulance and opened the doors. With the help of the 'paramedics' in the vehicle, Cheryl Mason was taken out, strapped to a gurney...the beautiful blonde girl was unconscious.

Doctor Young couldn't help but experience something close to full-blown panic as Cheryl was taken past him and into the hospital...he knew she wasn't going to the ER. He then got a call on his cell, and he took it out of a pocket of his silver suit. He said, "Y-yes?"

Reeve said to him, "Things are going exactly as planned, I see." He sounded supremely pleased with things.

Young, however, wasn't happy at all. He stammered, "R-Reeve, I-I-I know you told me the other day that this would happen, b-but I'm really not sure this is a good idea. I-I mean, to bring that Mason girl h-here, where anybody would see - !"

"And what would anybody see, Burton? A new patient was just brought to the hospital. Nothing suspicious about that." Young had little to say in response, but he was still agitated. Reeve then said, "Thank you again for letting us prepare the room where Miss Mason will be...ah, treated."

That last statement didn't help Young's nervousness in any way...the room in question was on the second floor, and Reeve had asked two days ago that he and his followers 'borrowed' it for this day. "W-we really need to talk about what you've done to that room, Reeve!"

"Oh, you mean the additional...decoration? You need not concern yourself."

"But I nuh-_need_ to be concerned! That room does have an express purpose, and I-I can't predict when it'll need it for - !"

"After this day, you won't need it again, Burton...indeed this hospital, this entire town will be rendered irrelevant." Reeve said that so damned casually. "Remember that you'll reap many blessings because you've been so accomodating to my holy covenant. So relax!"

"B-but what about Agent Chambers?! You said she and Mason were working together - !"

"Chambers will soon be taken care of. Would you _please_ relax, Burton? You get upset so easily."

Inside on the first floor, Head Nurse Gwendolyn Park ran out of one of the elevators after its doors opened and moved with speed and purpose toward the emergency room, in spite of her high heels. By coincidence - or perhaps because of fate? - she had seen the ambulance drive up to the ER entrance from a third floor window, as well. She hadn't been alerted beforehand that a trauma patient was on the way, which usually happened so that both Gwen and the supervising physician on shift could prep the staff and the emergency room! But the Head Nurse knew absolutely nothing about this ambulance's arrival or its purpose, and dropped everything to go down and see what was going on. A truly decent person who was always led by her conscience, Gwen Park thought something was damned strange, and she was right.

Gwen didn't even get a quarter of the way down the wide hall to the ER when she saw the group of people rolling the gurney in her direction at a jog...the expressions of all of those people, including the paramedics she didn't recognize, were full of cold purpose. One of the people leading the group shouted at her, "Stand aside! Get out of the way!"

The Head Nurse slowed to a stop as they approached and began to demand, "What's going on?! If this is an emergency, you can't just - !"

The same man yelled, "Stand aside, dammit! MOVE IT!" They hadn't slowed at all, and Gwen realized they were going to bulldoze _over_ her if she didn't move! The beautiful Head Nurse had little choice but to move to the side quickly and had to almost press against the wall as they passed. Gwen looked at the gurney and had barely more than half a second to see that a pretty blonde woman with freckles on her face was lying on it, unconscious. There seemed to be nothing wrong with her - !

Gwen parted from the wall and strode after the people, suddenly furious. "Stop! I SAID STOP FOR A MINUTE! HEY!" But they flatly ignored her as they reached the elevators...one opened up and a nurse came out to usher them into the car. Gwen recognized the nurse instantly: Brenda Cunningham, who had joined the staff just a month ago. The pale, seemingly humorless blonde had never gone out of her way to be friendly to anyone ever since she joined the staff, but she'd been hired on the recommendation of Doctor Young himself. At that moment, Brenda looked at Gwen...and the expression of the Head Nurse's subordinate was as cold as those who just got on the elevator, and she stayed with them as the doors closed. Gwen put her hands on her hips and said under her breath, "What the hell?!"

"Ah, Gwen!" She quickly turned to see Doctor Young approaching her from the direction of the ER, too. He smiled nervously as he approached. "Fancy meeting you here! Ahem, c-can I help you?"

Gwen looked at him and asked, "What was that all about, Doctor? That girl was just brought in from the ER entrance - !"

He lifted a hand and waved it side to side, disregarding. "O-oh, that's nothing! J-just a patient in urgent need of t-treatment, that's all."

Gwen frowned as she started to get impatient. "What kind of treatment? And where is that girl being taken?! Why wasn't anyone notified except for that new girl, Cunningham?!"

Young's smile faltered a little as he counseled, "N-now Gwen, don't you worry yourself about that. This is happening on my approval, so you may return to your duties."

Frustrated, Gwen needed more than that. She needed to know what was wrong with the blonde girl. "But Doctor - !"

Suddenly, Doctor Burton Young glared at his Head Nurse and said harshly, "Gwen, if you value your employment in this hospital, do not ask me anything more! Do you hear me?! Do you!" Stunned, Gwen could only look at the old man. Young cleared his throat and gave her a level gaze. "I-I'll be in my office, Gwen. Return to your duties immediately." Young then walked past her and to the elevators.

Gwen Park watched the old man walk away...and she recalled again everything that cute agent, Rebecca Chambers, had said not long ago. How both the parasites that plagued Black Falls for months and Doctor Young's supposed solution he'd 'created' to stop them came from somewhere called Silent Hill. And Young had looked like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar...he only asked at first _how Rebecca could have known_. And now this, an unconscious girl brought into the hospital by the emergency room doors, but for a purpose Gwen started to realize no one but Doctor Young and only Heaven knew who else knew about. Gwen Park watched her boss go, and her brown eyes were bright with frustration...and distrust.  
**  
-3-  
**  
As Sheriff Gulager was on his way to the back alley where Cheryl Mason was kidnapped, Rebecca Chambers was still on her knees crying, trembling from the core of her soul as she held the plush Huey the Horse tightly in her arms. Her face was red and her nose was running, the pixie-like brunette was crying so hard. Rebecca felt like dying would have been a step up from the agony she felt losing Cheryl. They had both felt a warm, beautiful attraction to each other so quickly...they brought each other such happiness, their mutual desire could only become adoration. And much, much more. But Cheryl was gone, and Rebecca felt alone, so terribly alone. Worse, as she looked at what just happened, Rebecca needlessly blamed herself. She'd promised to be there for Cheryl, to protect the one she cared for so deeply, and she'd failed. She cursed herself: _You stupid, stupid fool...you couldn't do a thing to help her, could you? You had your damn gun, and you still let them take Cheryl!_ It was becoming difficult for her to breathe as she cried, and she tried to calm down...desperate to help Cheryl, Rebecca focused on that. _I failed you, Cheryl...but I can still help you, I can still save you and we'll stop those monsters! I have to, I...oh god, Cheryl, I need you...!_

In answer to her desperate need to help Cheryl...and perhaps because of fate or something much, much higher...Rebecca heard the sound of a heavy engine approach from behind, and then a screech of tires. The sound of the engine shut down. A vehicle's door opened. Foosteps on the asphalt. And Rebecca heard Sheriff James Gulager say, "Agent Chambers! Would you mind telling me what you're doing here?"

Slowly, shakily, Rebecca rose to stand...and she turned to look at Gulager, who stood next to his truck with his hands on his hips. The Sheriff looked back at Rebecca, and she was a disarming sight. The petite beauty looked like she just got her heart broken somehow, he thought...she was crying as she hugged a plush Huey the Horse doll tightly in her slender arms. The lady looked like a lost, hurt child looking for her parents...if it wasn't for the Beretta handgun she held in her right fist. The moment he registered that she was carrying a weapon, he immediately unholstered his big stainless steel semi-auto from his gunbelt and held it waist-level. He barked, "I don't care if you're a government agent, you'd better drop that gun! Drop it!" Quietly, without any protest, Rebecca dropped the gun as she stared at Gulager with wide, wet eyes. Gulager then ordered, "Now drop that horse and put your hands up!" She didn't respond at first, which didn't do much for Gulager's patience. He repeated, "I said drop the horse and lift your hands!"

Rebecca Chambers finally responded: she softly said, "No."

"What?"

The girl was almost trembling with primal need...her voice was on the verge of breaking as she said, "Huey belongs to Cheryl. I need to give him back to her."

That was when Rebecca began to walk toward Gulager, who immediately ordered, "Chambers, I didn't give you permission to move! You'd better stop, girl!" She kept walking, as if she hadn't heard him...her wet eyes bored into him. Feeling an unwanted burst of fear, he got much louder: "I said STOP!" But she didn't. She never even hesitated to get closer. She was only a few paces away when Gulager finally aimed his gun at full extension at her face...he said at the top of his lungs, "YOU COME ANY CLOSER, AND I WILL SHOOT!"

Rebecca stopped. Her voice was full of fragile urgency when she said again, _"I need to give Huey back to Cheryl."_

Gulager stared at her for a beat, and he couldn't help but frown. "That's not going to happen, girl." Deciding she wasn't a threat at all, Gulager holstered his gun as his other hand found the pouch of his gunbelt that held his handcuffs. He got the restraints and drew closer to Rebecca. He dispassionately said as he reached out, "What _will_ happen is this. I'm placing you under arrest for - !"

It wasn't the biggest mistake James Gulager had ever made in his life, thoroughly misjudging Rebecca Chambers, but it was still a whopper.

He didn't keep in mind at the moment that the pixie-cute brunette was part of the Bioterrorist Security Assessment Alliance, and in order to be part of that organization she underwent training that included both armed and unarmed combat for counter-terror operations. In fact, Rebecca was a high-ranking black belt in the Japanese martial art of Ju-Jitsu, a form of empty-hand fighting born over 2000 years ago. Its name translated in English as _The Gentle Art_, and its central philosophy was to conquer a superior opponent with minimal force.

The moment Sheriff Gulager's outstretched hand touched one of Rebecca's bare shoulders to make her turn around so he could cuff her, she became a blur of motion. The petite girl took the taller and stronger man completely by surprise as her hands took hold of his wrist. Gulager could only register blinding, incredible pain and suddenly he was driven down with harsh efficiency. He felt his cheek pressing against asphalt as Rebecca stood over him, his wrist secured and locked tightly and agonizingly in her hands. He didn't know what the girl did, but he suddenly found himself conquered.

Cheryl Mason had just gifted Rebecca with the memories of her previous lives...Rebecca knew what had been done to Cheryl and to Silent Hill, she was finally given an idea of how evil The Order and their 'god' was, and that knowledge only stoked her building, righteous anger to higher levels. Rebecca spoke, and her voice increased in intensity and hostility with each second that passed. "I said I need to give Huey back to Cheryl, but I can only do that if I _save_ her. _Cheryl Mason is all that matters to me, and I don't care if I live or die, okay?_ I know The Order took her. I know you work for The Order. _So what's gonna happen is you'll tell me what I NEED to know!_ TELL ME WHERE THEY TOOK CHERYL!"

Gulager began to growl, "I don't know what the hell you - AAAGGGHHHH!" He was suddenly in even greater pain as Rebecca applied a harsh level of pressure to the wrist-lock. Bones were about to break.

Rebecca screamed with fury, "_The Order just kidnapped Cheryl and drove her away in an ambulance! Tell me where they took her!_ NOW!"

Full of fear, the lawman yelled, "A-all right! ALL RIGHT! Th-they took her to the hosptial!"

The girl eased the pressure on the wrist-lock - only a little - as she stared down at him. "What?!"

"You just said they used an ambulance, didn't you?! Besides, that's where their leader is now! Reeve's the one who always wanted that girl!"

Reeve. The same one who assaulted Rebecca and Cheryl by thought. But the agent was unsure of Gulager's information. "They wouldn't be so brazen...to take her to the hospital...?"

"Why not?! Doctor Young works for them, too! He runs the hospital!"

Bearing _that_ in mind, Rebecca thought it made a little more sense. "Tell me what else you know, Sheriff! What is The Order doing?! TALK!"

Gulager hated this, but he wasn't about to mess with this crazy girl. "I can't tell you much, just...I've helped them in little ways, covered for them ever since they came into town, and I'm not the only one in town working for them. B-but I have no idea what they're doing because Reeve wanted me to know as little as possible!" Rebecca communicated that she didn't believe that by giving his wrist a twist, and he felt a thunderbolt of searing pain. "AGH - ! I-I'M NOT LYING, DAMMIT! HE SAID IT WAS FOR MY PROTECTION!"

Rebecca said flatly, "No, I'd say it was for their protection more than yours!"

Gulager finally groaned, "M-maybe Doctor Young knows more than I do! Talk to him!"

Rebecca nodded. "Don't worry, I will!" She then kicked the man in the face, driving him to unconsciousness. She finally let the man's wrist go and just like that, James Gulager was prone and unconscious on the asphalt.

The brunette left Gulager and in short order collected from the ground Huey, her handgun, and the handbag she'd dropped a short distance away in the back alley that contained her iPhone and the vial of Aglaophotis she stole from Doctor Young earlier. She got into the Sheriff's truck and saw he left his key in the ignition, which was on a ring with a large set of keys. The agent started the truck, put it in reverse and backed up in the direction Gulager came from.

Less than two minutes later - even the side streets were starting to become busy with arriving fairgoers at this time, delaying her - Rebecca brought the truck to a halt in the back lot of the bed and breakfast she and Cheryl stayed at last night...she'd stopped not far from her motorcycle and Cheryl's Ford, in fact. The agent got out of the truck, slammed the door shut, and had to force herself to stand still and calm herself. Hot tears filled her eyes again as she made her hands into fists to keep them from trembling. It took an incredible effort to focus and control herself, but the loss of Cheryl made her feel like someone stabbed her in the heart with a heavy knife. The Order had taken Cheryl. They were going to do something terrible to her, make her into their Mother of God. And for all she knew, they weren't going to waste any time. If Rebecca wanted to redeem herself and save Cheryl, she had to calm down, even though time for them both might have been terribly short.

Rebecca Chambers barely succeeded and regained her focus. She then got her iPhone from her handbag. Rebecca needed help desperately, and she knew exactly who to call.  
**  
-4-**

**Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance**  
**U.S. Division Headquarters**  
**Washington, D.C.**

Barely fifteen minutes earlier:

Chris Redfield happened to be in his office, going over more reports, when he heard a knock at his door. Chris looked up and said, "Come in!" But when the door opened, he quickly saw he had a special and most welcome guest.

The tall, heavily built man looked like a younger brother to Paul Bunyan, he was that big. His clothes were as rugged as his face, covered by a red beard that had the beginnings of gray to accent it. But there was a sunny, bright expression on this veteran law enforcer and survivalist's face when he nodded deeply and greeted, "Hey, Chris!"

Surprised, Chris grinned and almost yelled, "Barry!" He got up from behind his desk and began to walk to his visitor. "I thought you'd be visiting next week!"

Barry Burton, one of Chris Redfield's oldest friends, a former comrade in the U.S. Air Force and former teammate from the Raccoon City Police Department's S.T.A.R.S. unit, closed the door and moved to meet his old partner. Barry enlightened, "I managed to get some extra off time from my job a little early!"

"That's not easy when you work for law enforcement." There was a knowing look in his eyes as he added, "Unless you're the boss, _Chief_ Burton!"

Barry laughed, "Then it's a little bit easier!" After all of the chaos involving Raccoon City, after he assisted Chris and Jill in finding the evidence needed to bring the Umbrella Corporation to justice, Barry Burton and his family moved to Montana...in the city of Billings, partly because of his history and credentials, he joined its police department high in the ranks. It was just recently, because of his dedication and good works since, he'd been promoted to the highest position in the department.

Chris and Barry met in the heart of the office and shook hands with vigor, but it quickly turned into a hug between these comrades in arms. The men broke apart and Chris said with feeling, "Congratulations, Bear. You earned it." Bear had long been Chris' nickname for the big man, and truthfully there was a resemblance...lord knew Barry wanted to give a nickname or something else to everyone _he_ met! The BSAA captain still remembered how Barry liked to call fellow S.T.A.R.S. survivor Jill Valentine 'the master of unlocking', much to her quiet annoyance.

Barry said warmly, "Thanks, Chris."

"Are Kathy and the girls still good?"

"They're still amazing, Chris," Barry answered with a smile nearly a mile wide as he thought of Kathy Burton, his wife, and their daughters Moira and Polly. The girls were in college now, which made him feel old, and earning high grades in their classes. Every day he felt blessed to have such a beautiful, loving family.

"How are things in Billings?"

"Just the way I like them: quiet! What about your end?"

Chris' expression became more solemn. "Quiet...for now. Rebecca's gone to check on something, though."

"No kidding! You finally put her in the field - !"

"Don't you start with me. She's just investigating something she came across."

Barry asked, "What's that?"

"Mass disappearances, a lunatic cult...unusual stuff. Chances are it's nothing serious."

The big man gave Chris a look. "Then why's Rebecca gone if it's not serious?"

"She's using her vacation time, and it's something she really believes in."

"And you don't?"

Chris frowned deeply. "I honestly don't know what to think, Bear. It's strange business. You'll probably have as much luck if I tell you about it."

Barry said, "Then fire away, man." Chris gestured to the big man to take a seat on the couch on one side of the office...he got a couple of canned drinks for them to share. Even before Chris got back to the couch, he'd started in. It took a couple of minutes to enlighten the weapons specialist about Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen, their never-ending fog, and The Order.

By the time Chris was done, Barry was frowning, too. He said, "Okay, _strange_ definitely covers it! But Rebecca's okay, right?"

Chris nodded, having no idea what was happening at that moment in Black Falls. "So far. Rebecca's getting help from this girl who has a history with the cult, Cheryl Mason."

"When did you last hear from her?"

"Yesterday. If anything comes up, she'll call, though."

Barry nodded. "Then I can ask about other things. How's Jill?"

Chris Redfield smiled fondly. "Jill is doing good, Barry. Even after all of that crap last month."

"That's good." Chris started to take a drink from his can when Barry asked, "So have you and Jill shacked up yet?"

Chris almost spit up his drink. He had to wipe his chin as he stared at Barry, flabbergasted. "What?!"

"You heard me!"

Chris growled, "Barry, that's a little personal!"

Barry grinned and said, "Nope, if I wanted to be personal, I'd ask why you two haven't done the horizontal mambo yet!"

Again, this was as Chris tried to take a swallow from his soft drink. This time some of it sprayed from his nose onto the office floor. "Barry - !"

Barry laughed. "You know you've got a drinking problem? Don't worry, it's not as bad as that guy in the movie _Airplane!_"

Chris gave Barry a hard look. "What is wrong with you!? Jill and I have always been close, but - !"

But Barry's eyes were comparatively harder when he interrupted, "Chris, don't B.S. me. I know you two have been close since you met, when Jill was the first woman to join S.T.A.R.S. I was there, remember? Damn, that was a long time ago - !"

Chris warned, "Don't make me feel old, Bear!"

"Yeah, I was there, and even then I saw the signals. I saw the same things that Kathy and I felt when we started falling in love."

Chris began to protest. "I have no idea what you're - !"

Barry growled, "Chris, seriously. Don't bullshit me. You know what I mean. You've always been really close, and I'll never understand why the head of the BSAA split you up for a while. You've always been stronger together than you ever were apart. And what about those three years of hell you put yourself through, believing Jill was dead and blaming yourself for it? Each time I visited you, I could see you lost faith in what you were fighting for...worse, you stopped giving a damn about yourself. Taking one high-risk mission after another with minimum support, it's like you wanted to die."

As Barry spoke, Chris' expression became elementally somber...he stared into space as he remembered. "No, Bear. When I thought Jill died...I felt like so much inside me died, too. I'm sorry I couldn't open up to you then. I was in a bad place." He and Barry had always kept in constant touch with each other since the fall of Umbrella, even though they took very different paths.

Barry said sadly, "I just wish I could've talked some sense into you then, helped you somehow."

Chris finally looked the big bear of a man in the eyes and said quietly, "I don't deserve a friend like you, Barry."

Barry's expression softened. "You always did feel too much, Chris. That's the one chink in your armor. You must still feel guilty about the teams you lost last Christmas and a little over a month ago."

Chris quickly said, "I've gotten better since, Barry. Really."

"In some ways you have, yeah."

Chris smiled sourly. "It's strange. Even at my lowest during this damned year, I didn't feel as dead inside, as..._lost_ as I was without Jill."

Barry grinned again. "Yeah, let's get back to you and Jill for a minute!"

The BSAA captain groaned, "Oh, god."

"Relax, this will only hurt for a minute! A month ago, right after all that crap with Neo-Umbrella, you finally got pulled out of Europe so you can start things up for the BSAA stateside. And perfect timing, all of our shouting to get Jill out of government custody earned her a hearing right after that!" Because for three years, Jill Valentine had been under the control of Albert Wesker. And then the truth came out about her once being infected by the T-Virus, and how it changed her. There was a need to observe her, examine and test her repeatedly to ensure she was no longer a threat in any way.

Chris nodded as his mood chilled. "They kept Jill in custody for over three years, but the hearing only took a damn day."

"Because the government finally figured out what her friends and family already knew: Jill Valentine could never be one of the bad guys."

Chris snapped angrily, "It was still bullshit she had to be demoted in rank with her reinstatement! It was like they thought of Jill as...as damaged goods!"

"And if I recall right, the lady didn't care about that." Barry's smile was warm as he said, "I do know who Jill really cared about, though."

Then, the moment the free and reinstated Jill Valentine left the hearing room on Capitol Hill, she heard and felt the explosion of cheers and applause from her family and her closest, dearest friends who were there for her. Chris, Barry, Sheva Alomar, Rebecca Chambers, and others in the BSAA. Jill laughed as she cried tears of relief and happiness, and the first thing she did was rush straight to her partner, Chris Redfield. They held each other fiercely with a sudden, long-denied passion as the others watched. Jill Valentine said with so much regret, "Oh, Chris...it's been like Hell to be without you!"

Chris Redfield felt like the world made sense again as he held that beautiful, amazing woman. He said in a voice deep with emotion, "Nothing's gonna keep us apart again, Jill. I promise."

Chris couldn't help but look down in his office as he remembered...the smile on his face was priceless.

But Barry had to bring him back down to earth by asking, "You want to know how long you two held each other like that? I had to time it - !"

Chris came to and glared at his friend. "Barry...!"

"You could've knocked Rebecca over with a feather, she was so happy for you both!"  
_  
"What's your point?"_

"And then you and Jill had to ruin it all and not even kiss! You were both suddenly like, 'Uh-oh, friends are watching!' Then you broke apart like you were afraid you'd set each other on fire!"

Chris stared at Barry for a beat. "Are you done?"

"My point is, I've never seen two people so perfect for each other like you and Jill are, but you're both scared to admit it! I can only guess you're scared of...well, being more than partners."

Chris suddenly frowned again. He said reluctantly, "I can't speak for Jill, but I can tell you how I feel."

Barry looked at him. "Honest?"

"Yeah, honest. And you're damn right I'm scared. Do you have any idea how badly things could crash and burn if we took a step like that? And that depends on if Jill feels the same way I do!"

"She does. Seriously."

Chris' expression was dubious. "Barry, we're in exactly the wrong jobs if we want to make a lifetime commitment to each other."

"Then talk to Jill about you both quitting and settling down!"

The look Chris gave him was even more doubtful. "And what would we do?"

"You could always go back to your family's ranch in Colorado. Your dad still wants to pass on the business to you and Claire, right?"

Chris stared at him with a conflicted expression. He seemed to like the idea...and yet there was so much fear in his eyes. "I..."

Barry counseled, "Chris, I can see how tired you are. You're tired of fighting terrorist assholes and their bug-eyed bio-weapons."

Chris looked away as he frowned. "Yeah. I am tired. Losing two teams...losing Piers to Neo-Umbrella made me that way."

"So what's stopping you?"

Chris looked into Barry's eyes. "This. The war."

Barry frowned. "What, and you think you're the only one who can fight bioterrorists? That's pretty damn arrogant." The big man gestured at Chris and said in a joking tone, "Step aside, everyone! Leave this job to Chris Redfield, Zombie Hunter, Slayer of Ass-Ugly Monsters - !"

"Barry, come on."

"No, _you_ come on! Even samurai in ancient Japan knew when to retire when they had the chance! You're not getting any younger either, you know?"

"Oh, thanks a lot."

"I'll ask again. What's stopping you?"

Then...there was a sudden, quiet pain in Chris Redfield's eyes as he spoke again. "I can't just walk away, Barry. I...I owe it to Piers and the men I lost. I lived through all of the shit they didn't."

Barry Burton gave Chris a hard look and said, "So this is about guilt. Remember I know something about guilt, old friend. Hell, I all but helped Albert Wesker feed S.T.A.R.S. to the dogs back in the day - !"

Chris quickly said, "Barry, Wesker threatened your family! If you didn't work with him, he would have killed Kathy and your girls! You did what you did for _them_, and Jill and Rebecca understood why, too!" They were the darkest moments in Barry Burton's life, and culminated in the Mansion Incident that July of 1998. Albert Wesker, then the leader of S.T.A.R.S. and secretly employed to Umbrella, forced Barry to become part of his dirty dealings...if he hadn't, Wesker would have had agents terminate his family. In that damned mansion, Wesker ultimately made Barry betray Jill, but the weapons specialist realized the madman was working for his own purposes, to steal Umbrella research and cover his own tracks. Barry Burton redeemed himself and was as instrumental in Chris, Jill, and Rebecca escaping the mansion facility before it was destroyed as the belated but timely assistance of the late Brad 'Chickenheart' Vickers. Barry briefly had to relocate Kathy and their daughters to Canada for their safety until Umbrella was brought down.

Barry shook his head, his expression full of regret. "But I still feel guilty, Chris."

"I've told you before you have no reason to, man! I promise you that!"

Barry's eyes turned hard as he gazed at Chris. "Then maybe you ought to listen to your own advice! Really look at what happened to those men you lost! Did _you_ kill them? No, _Neo-Umbrella_ did! And I remember what you told me about Piers, he made his own choice! Those brave men went down in the line of duty following your orders! They had their eyes wide open and knew what the risks were! The last person they would have blamed was you! And on top of all that, you feel guilty about _surviving_ when they didn't? It was just like when you thought Jill was dead, maybe your dying would have made that right, too?" Chris opened his mouth to protest...but there was so much quiet pain in his expression as he turned away, silent. Barry looked at him, worried. "Like I've always told you, Chris, you feel too damn much. You've got to accept that there are some things you can't control and move on. And maybe moving on includes stepping aside, like I did. Walk out with your shield before you get carried out on it." The big man finally challenged, "Think about it for Jill as much as for yourself if you really love her!"

Chris looked at him and began, "Barry - !"

That was when he heard the ringing of his iPhone, which he left on his desk.

With a sour expression, Chris left the couch to move to the desk, but Barry growled, "To be continued!"

Chris glanced back at him and said, "Maybe!" He got to his desk, picked up the iPhone and looked at the screen. He smiled a little when he saw who the incoming call was coming from. "Guess what, Barry? Rebecca's calling!" He hit the answer button and began, "Hey, Rebecca - !"

But Chris stopped cold when he saw Rebecca Chambers on his screen, tears streaming from her frantic eyes, as she screamed, "CHRIS?! CHRIS, I NEED HELP RIGHT NOW!"  
**  
-5-  
**  
In Black Falls, Rebecca Chambers was already beginning to lose the self-control she fought so hard for before. She couldn't help it. Rebecca cried to Chris, _"The Order just took Cheryl, and there was nothing I could do, I failed her! I need you here as fast as possible - !"_

On her iPhone's screen, Chris Redfield's expression was one of pure concern. "Whoa!-WHOA! Rebecca, slow down! Just slow down, please! Calm yourself!"

Barry Burton, who had literally launched from where he sat when he heard Rebecca screaming, was partly there on the screen, as well. "Rebecca, it's Barry Burton! What's your situation?!"  
_  
"B-Barry?!"_ Rebecca looked at the big man's image with wide eyes, surprised to see him. "Oh, it's so good to hear you, too! The Order just kidnapped Cheryl! They want her for something horrible!"

Barry was pure business as he asked, "Chris just told me what you're looking into! You must mean Cheryl Mason! Why do they want her?"

Rebecca voice shook as she answered, "I-I'm sorry, Barry, it's too much to talk about right now! I can tell you The Order's leader is named Reeve, and they're...th-they're using these hideous parasites! They're monsters, Chris, like those creatures you and Sheva fought in Africa! They control people, a-and they make their victims do what The Order wants! H-hold on, I'm sending you the pictures I took in the hospital...!" She quickly worked her fingers to do just that, and it took just a couple of moments to transmit the pictures she'd taken of the people possessed in the hospital's ICU.

On the screen, she saw the expressions of both men slacken with shock. Barry Burton almost breathed, "Good lord!"

Chris Redfield's expression was tight and grim. "We're seeing them, Rebecca! How many more people are under the control of those things?!"

Rebecca shook her head. "I have no idea, Chris! All I do know is The Order is about to do something in Black Falls...worse, they're going to hurt Cheryl! If they want to make her their Mother of God...! I-I've got to save her before that happens!"

Barry said, "W-wait, mother of _what?_"

Chris frowned. "Rebecca - !"

Rebecca's beautiful face became full of soul-aching pain. "I failed her, Chris! _I promised I'd be there for her and I failed!_ I've got to make it right, I've got to save her!"

But Chris suddenly said, "Rebecca, don't do anything for now! I want you to wait until we come to you!"

Rebecca's eyes grew full of shock. "You want me to WAIT?! B-but it'll take you _over an hour_ to get to Black Falls! You don't understand, Chris, I can't trust the local police! Too many people in this town are working for The Order! I know where Reeve has Cheryl, and I have to do something NOW!"

Chris said flatly, "And I'm giving you a direct order to stand by and wait for backup, Rebecca! Do you know how many people have been taken over by those parasites? Do you know The Order's numbers or what kind of firepower they have?!"

Rebecca answered, "N-no, but that doesn't matter - !"

"Yes, it does! Rebecca, you can't just rush blindly in to save this girl, you'll only get yourself killed!"

Rebecca then frowned and stared at Chris and Barry's image. "How many times have you rushed into a situation, Chris?"

She watched Barry frown at Chris as he said, "_Touche_, old friend."

Chris' expression became hard then and he said loudly, "_I'm still giving you a direct order, Rebecca!_ Stand by and wait for us to come to you, then we'll help you get that Mason girl back! You understand me?!"

Rebecca Chambers stared at the image on her iPhone's screen for a moment. During that moment, her unsure, frantic expression shifted slowly to one of pure, perfect resolve and understanding. The moment passed, and the brunette said, very simply, "Go to Hell, Chris."

Both Chris Redfield and Barry Burton stared at her with stunned expressions. Chris began to ask coolly, "What did you just say - ?!"

But the girl suddenly screamed in defiance at her captain's image, "I SAID _GO TO HELL!_" And she hung up on him.

Rebecca knew a welcoming calm as she understood. She was on her own. Help was over an hour away...all she could do was let Chris know what was going on.

But the lady was _damned_ if she'd just sit and wait while Cheryl needed her.

With pure purpose, the agent moved to her green sports cycle...it had been customized to hold two secret compartments under its aerodynamic panels, one on the right and the other on the left. The one on the right side held her bag with a few changes of clothes. The compartment in the left side of the bike held contents that were much different, contents she hoped when she entered Black Falls she wouldn't have to access. That had changed, and she lowered to her knees to open it...she took out a small yet heavy case eagerly.

Rebecca stayed on her knees and opened the case, and inside was a light backpack and utility belt with an empty gun holster. She took her vial of Aglaophotis from her handbag and put it with the rest of the contents, which included first aid provisions and medical equipment with which she could perform any number of emergency functions to help someone wounded, including field surgery. She thought fast and moved to the other compartment for a moment to get Cheryl Mason's Colt Peacemaker and the boxes of .45 Long Colt shells, which she'd put with her clothes that morning in case anyone searched Cheryl's old Ford. She put the big Colt and its ammo in the backpack, zipped it closed, and put it on. Rebecca buckled the belt around her lovely waist...like a police officer's utility belt, it held many pouches but was much lighter in material. Besides handcuffs, it held pouches with lockpicks (she'd learned a lot from Jill Valentine), pepper spray and other equipment, including green, red and blue herbal tablets that could heal, increase strength and stamina, and counteract poisons of many different kinds. After Rebecca tied the lower strap of the belt's gun holster around her right thigh, she took from her handbag her Beretta 9mm handgun and its spare clips. After making sure the Beretta was snugly in the holster at her side, she snapped the spare clips in her belt, too.

Rebecca finally focused on what made the case so heavy...the field-stripped components of a much heavier weapon, along with five long magazines.

It took the agent a few moments to put the weapon together: it was an H&K MP5 9mm submachine gun with a built-in suppressor and collapsible stock. She loaded a clip into the weapon and set its safety so it wouldn't fire. For now. She put the spare clips into her belt, too.

Before she closed the compartment to the cycle, she had one more thing to do. She gently, carefully put Cheryl's plush Huey the Horse in the compartment and locked it tight. So he'd be safe until she could give him back to Cheryl.

Then Rebecca Chambers slowly rose from the side of her cycle. The MP5 had a shoulder strap, and she slung it over one of her slender shoulders. She marched back to Sheriff Gulager's truck, got inside, and drove away.

Rebecca thought calmly as she drove to the hospital, _I'm coming for you, Cheryl...I'll be right there._  
**  
-6-  
**  
It was right after Rebecca hung up in Washington, D.C., and Chris Redfield was staring at his iPhone's dark screen. He snarled, "Goddamn it!"

At his side, Barry Burton couldn't help but smile. "Rebecca's become one amazing lady, Chris."

Chris nodded solemnly and quickly punched in a new number as he said, "I'm figuring that out for myself, thanks."

Only a few seconds passed before someone new appeared on the screen. Jill Valentine smiled and said, "Hello, Chris! What's - ?"

Chris Redfield interrupted her immediately: "Jill, I'm going to need your help to mobilize every available agent we have in Washington, and I mean EVERY single one. Rebecca Chambers is in the middle of a possible bioterrorist action in Black Falls, Vermont and she needs our help _yesterday_. I have no idea what the enemy's strength is, but I do know they're using a form of parasite like the _plaga_ in Spain and Africa. Have everyone prepped for _wartime combat_, you hear me?!"

Jill suddenly looked like Chris felt...there was a determination as strong as steel in her eyes as she said briskly, "Loud and clear!"

"I'm going to notify the President and the Secretary of Defense, let them know the situation...they'll call the state authorities, hopefully get some State Police support to Rebecca while she's waiting for us. I'll join you as fast as I can."

Jill's expression was full of emotion as she said thickly, anxiously, "I swear to god, Chris, if anyone hurts Rebecca - !"

Chris firmly said, "That's NOT going to happen, Jill. Not on our watch, okay?"

Thinking only of Rebecca, Jill Valentine nodded, her eyes bright with worry for her. "Okay!"

As Chris disconnected, Barry Burton said quietly, "I'm coming with you, Chris."

Chris stared at his old friend. "Barry - "

Barry said in a cold tone, "If you say no, I'm going to knock you the _hell_ out. Do I have to say Rebecca's important to me, too? And you did say you needed everyone available?" The big man spread his arms wide and offered, "Available is what I am!"

Chris finally nodded deeply. "Thanks, old friend." He almost clenched his iPhone in his fist as he frowned, as he felt an instinctive, ominous foreboding. "I have a bad feeling we'll need all the help we can get." The light shifted in his eyes. "In fact, there's someone else I need to call first."

Barry Burton asked, "Who?"

"Someone I trust," Chris Redfield said. "Besides, he has the President's ear, anyway." He then dialed a new number.

Just after one ring, a familiar face appeared on Chris' iPhone screen...Leon S. Kennedy said, "Hello, Chris! What's up?"  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**PREVIOUSLY: Cheryl Mason has been recaptured by remnants of The Order, the monstrous cult responsible for the destruction of Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen...and Rebecca Chambers has found herself in a race against time to save her and Black Falls from their evil!**

**But is it already too late? In this chapter, you'll be formally introduced to Reeve. In appearance imagine Edward Cullen from TWILIGHT, but older and a lot nastier!**

**RESIDNENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**Chapter 9:**

**"REEVE"**

**-1-**

**Black Falls, Vermont**  
**4:52 P.M.**

**Being the first day of the County Fair, the physicians and nurses of Wyler Community Hospital had already anticipated a day in which anything could happen. **But NO ONE could have expected to see a pixie-cute, heavily-armed young woman step out of an elevator on the third floor and make a beeline for the Nurse's Station. Gwen Park was there, and her mouth almost dropped open with surprise.

BSAA agent Rebecca Chambers was literally armed for bear. She held a deadly-looking MP5 submachine gun at the ready, and her eyes were bright with purpose. Some in the area screamed at the sight of her as they feared the worst, that this girl was about to go postal or something. But Rebecca shouted at everyone in the area, "Everyone please calm down! I'm a federal agent! I don't mean any of you any harm, I promise!"

After everything that she had seen that day so far...realizing her boss, Doctor Burton Young, might have involved with bringing the parasites to this town, and then just minutes ago had a unconscious blonde girl brought into the hospital in secret...Gwen Park was more than ready to take a leap of faith for Rebecca Chambers. The beautiful Head Nurse said loudly to everyone, "Everybody listen to her! Agent Chambers is part of an antiterrorist organization! _Everybody calm down!_" Gwen was a natural leader and it was due to her influence that most everyone relaxed, but some still gave the brunette agent curious if not apprehensive stares.

Rebecca reached the Nurse's Station and smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Gwen. I need to see Doctor Young immediately."

Gwen nodded, unsurprised. "Doctor Young just had a young blonde woman brought in about 20 minutes ago, and he didn't want me to know anything about it. Is she why you're here?"

The Head Nurse was surprised by the sudden, elemental need in Rebecca's wide eyes. "_Yes._ Do you know where she is?"

Gwen frowned. "No, but I can take you to Doctor Young, if you want. He should be in his office on the seventh floor."

"Thank you again, Gwen. _Thank you._"

"It's truly nothing, Rebecca." Suddenly, Gwen thought of something and said quickly, "J-just a moment!" The Head Nurse turned around and called out, "Bea!"

On the other side of the Nurse's Station, a candy striper turned and moved quickly to Gwen. The teenaged girl was a heartbreaker of a beauty with shoulder-length dark hair that complemented her skin's robust olive complexion. Another distinctive trait of the young candy striper was that she had a bright gold anklet on one of her slender ankles with a heart-shaped charm. The girl said crisply when she reached Gwen, "Yes, ma'am!"

Gwen turned to Rebecca as she lightly touched the candy striper's shoulder. "This is one of my volunteers, Bea Montoya. If you don't mind, we're coming with you."

Bea was surprised to know that. "W-we are?"

Gwen said to her softly, "Yes, honey, we are!"

Rebecca asked, "Uh, why?"

"Because you might need witnesses, you know? Just in case." Gwen Park's eyes pleaded to the agent as she said, "Please, we deserve to know what's been happening here."

Rebecca nodded, understanding. "Yes, you do. C'mon." The agent gestured to them to follow her as she turned back to the elevators.

As they left the Nurse's Station and followed Rebecca, Bea asked Gwen, "Is this about the parasites, ma'am?"

Gwen said, "Yes, honey. That and...other things."

They reached the elevators, and Rebecca punched the up button. One set of elevator doors opened, and they moved to the car. They got inside, and Rebecca hit the button with the number 7. The doors began to close, and Rebecca looked at Gwen thoughtfully. "You're really worried for everyone in town."

Gwen nodded. "Because of those parasites and only god knows what else is going on? Of course." The lady frowned a little. "But um, I've got to admit I'm a little selfish, too. I'm scared for my husband...and our unborn baby."

Rebecca looked at her, realizing. "You...?"

Gwen Park said softly, "I'm three months pregnant, Rebecca." This earned a surprised look from Bea, who didn't know.

Rebecca Chambers' eyes became solemn as she gazed into the Head Nurse's. "You're not being selfish at all, Gwen. One way or the other, whatever is happening, we will stop it. We _have_ to." In her heart, Rebecca thought, _We will stop it, Cheryl...for you._  
**  
-2-  
**  
Somewhere else in the hosptial: Cheryl Mason had known only warm, quiet darkness since she was forced into unconsciousness by an Order Soldier's tranquilizer dart. That was changing. As if from far away, she began to hear voices...

"Your grace, she's starting to wake up. The stimulant wasn't obstructed by the control agent, as we expected." A woman's voice.

"The control agent itself had better do its job, too." A man's voice...he sounded familiar...

"It's been over ten minutes since I adminstered it, she should be feeling it's full effect right now. As long as she's forced to focus fully on you - "

"Oh, she will. I will need the rest of you to stay quiet and not create any distractions." Then...the man's voice became louder...no, it seemed to be closer as he said, "Alessa?" She wanted to think that wasn't her name anymore, she was _Cheryl_...but...something was wrong. It was hard to focus, to even think, and not just because she was slowly returning to conscious awareness. The man said, urging, "Alessa? Alessa, you need to wake up...wake up..." She knew that voice, but because it was so hard to think, she didn't recognize it right away...yet there was such a chill in that voice, it made Cheryl instinctively fearful. She suddenly didn't want to wake up...

...but then, because of the disorientation of the moment as she woke combined with being heavily drugged, hearing that voice made Cheryl Mason recall something. She meant it when she told Rebecca that there was so much about her previous lives she didn't want to remember, so much she dearly wished she could forget. But there were a few memories so painful and terrible she unconsciously, defensively repressed them to the darker corners of her subconscious. This was one of those memories, something terrible from a time when her name was indeed Alessa Gillespie, and it came back to her even though she didn't want to remember it -  
**  
-3-  
**  
"Alessa?" The man's voice was replaced by a woman's as there was only darkness, and she felt such horrible dread when she recognized the voice. "Alessa. Time to wake up, child." Suddenly, she felt a harsh slap across her cheek as the woman's voice commanded, "Wake up!" She opened her eyes as she knew sudden pain, and her mother was there: Dahlia Gillespie, High Priestess of The Order. Dahlia looked down upon her and nodded. "Good. I want you awake for this." Cheryl realized when this memory came from as the woman in black looked down upon her with urgent, baleful eyes. She felt the primal need to escape, to get away...but she couldn't even move, no matter how hard she tried. "I'm terribly sorry, child, but those restraints are for your own good. You could be damaged during the ritual if you were allowed any freedom of movement. I'm afraid you will still be damaged regardless...but that is part of the sacrifice you must make this night. If you are to be the Mother of God, you must know pain. In order to begin to pave the way to Paradise in this world, you must know torment. Such is the price of bringing order to this sad, pathetic world once and for all. And this is a price I will gladly pay to ensure my own power and glory under our God!" She realized she had been tied down to her own bed, which had been made into an altar this dark and terrible night in Silent Hill when...she wanted to shut off the memory, turn away from it, do something, anything, but she could only remember these darksome moments again.

Dahlia Gillespie seemed twice as old as she truly was...she was already looking like a harsh old crone: it was as if her relentless, obsessive dedication to her faith drained her very life from her, and perhaps there was a justice in that. But if Dahlia knew or understood what was happening to her, she gave no indication. Dahlia frowned as she looked down upon her daughter and she said sadly, "Oh, Alessa...you must think this so unfair and cruel, what I am doing to you...and what I am about to do will be even worse. But you must understand that I have waited too long for this opportunity." The sadness in her voice shifted to something needful, self-righteous and cold. "I cannot tell you how many years I've worked and prayed for our God's blessings, to know power, _true_ power. Power enough to make this world...make sense. But instead, in spite of all my sacrifices, my mystical powers remain meager. I am forced along with my bretheren to hide my true self in the shadows like a common, petty thief. All of us who are part of The Order must keep ourselves and our faith secret so that those who do not follow the righteous path we've taken remain ignorant! The last thing we need is to be persecuted by those fools who cannot believe and would never understand!"

Dahlia drew even closer to loom terribly over Alessa in her memory then and her voice became something worse than cold. She said perhaps the worst things a child could ever hear from a mother. Alessa had always simply wanted Dahlia's love, but she never received it for a moment. In this repressed memory, she discovered once and for all that love was something her mother was incapable of giving. Dahlia said, "Let me tell you something I never needed or wanted, dear Alessa...and that is you. You were an _accident_ because of a single night I was careless with a man who...well, he is no longer with us. He was another of the many sacrifices I made to earn God's grace. The one thing that gave me some comfort was that one day, you might serve to be a sacrifice, as well." The woman's wrinkled, taut face slowly became alive with anger: "But then imagine my shock to discover that after all of my sacrifices, after all of the blood I gave in the name of God, _you_ were given the power I always wished to be blessed with. That was unfair and cruel to _me! I_ am God's most faithful servant, _I_ made many, many sacrifices for the sake of the Lord of Serpents and Reeds! To know a child I never planned for, never even _wanted_, was given the power I always deserved...!"

The woman in black had to take a moment to calm herself...it took some effort. Finally, a cruel smile formed on Dahlia Gillespie's face as she looked down upon her only child. "Thankfully, I understood that you had a destiny, one that would guarantee my glory and the rule of our God over this Earth once and for all. So don't cry, dear Alessa...don't fight your destiny. If it wasn't for this singular night and your sacrifice, you would be _nothing_. You would remain an accident with no purpose or point in this world. But now, finally...you shall be good for _something!_" Finally, thankfully, the memory began to fade, because Cheryl Mason knew instinctively that shortly after that, the ritual Dahlia performed on Alessa in her bedroom was executed...a ritual she had buried in her own subconscious except for the burning, unthinkable pain...

...but that pain was nothing compared to what she felt knowing her mother never, ever loved her...to have been called an unwanted mistake. Cheryl Mason continued to rise slowly from the darkness, and she couldn't help but moan softly, "M-mommy...mommy..."  
**  
-4-  
**  
Then that man's cold, cold voice spoke again, reaching her through the darkness, and she knew it held as much threat to her as Dahlia Gillespie did. "Wake up, Alessa. Wake up, you're having a dream. Wake up now!" Cheryl didn't want to wake up as she tried to focus, as she tried to think of Rebecca...but almost against her will, she reached awareness and opened her eyes to a harsh light. She barely had the focus to realize she wasn't quite lying down and she couldn't move. She was sitting in a specialized chair, and her wrists were strapped to its armrests. The chair was set to recline to such a degree she might as well have been lying down, and she was forced to look up into the bright lights of the room she was in. If Cheryl Mason had looked upon herself, she would have seen how vulnerable she was: she wore only her flannel shirt, the black tee underneath, and her panties; the rest of her clothing had been removed and left to lie on the floor not far away. Even awake, because she had been drugged, she looked like she was experiencing a dream. If only she had been.

And the man was there, looming over Cheryl in the same way her mother had all of those years ago in Silent Hill. The man was close to fifty years old, dressed in black robes that would have reminded Cheryl of Claudia Wolf if she had been able to focus enough, but his features appeared youthful. The shock of hair on his head was black as midnight...his face, pale as a porcelain doll's, was handsome enough...but it was looking into his eyes, eyes so brown they were virtually black, a person would have both seen and felt something colder than ice, something that had never known and could never know warmth. It's been said that the eyes are the windows to one's soul - if so, then one would have had to question if this man even had a soul. There was no warmth in the man's full lips as he smiled and mused, "Good...very good. I've waited a long time to meet you, Alessa Gillespie. I am Reeve Meyers, High Priest of The Order...well, what is left of it. You and others tried to destroy us, to deny us...but now, finally, our time has come. Before we proceed, I thought I would take a few moments to tell you more about me...so you may understand me.

"Like you, I was born in Silent Hill, but in the year 1964. I was raised by my parents, faithful followers of The Order and its Sect of Valtiel. Yes, Valtiel, the First Servant of our God. Early in my childhood, I discovered I had powers, thanks no doubt to the sacrifices my parents made. Unfortunately, it turned out my parents' faith had...limitations. They left Silent Hill and took me with them in 1976; I only fully understood later that mother and father were afraid of what the town had become after you were sacrificed by your mother, the High Priestess Dahlia Gillespie. I was taken to another state, to another town, to live among the heretics and unbelievers." Reeve's voice dripped with contempt mentioning those who couldn't believe in his misbegotten faith, but even as a child entering his teenaged years, he was already becoming something the rest of Humanity could have done without. He'd developed into a heartless sociopath well before he committed his first murder: when he was thirteen years old, he followed a girl who was walking home from school, and with the pre-planning and caution of any deadly predator, he waited for the right moment when she was isolated and alone on a park path...and he bashed her head in with a rock. Why? Simply because Reeve was curious to see what her honey-blonde hair would look like soaked in blood. He was never caught. "My parents kept teaching me all they knew, all they said they still believed in yet betrayed by abandoning their holy covenant. As a true believer, I saw how unworthy my parents were, and how truly sinful...and I killed them both in their sleep when I was 21 years old." Reeve said it so casually, as if the idea of family never meant anything to him. But that wasn't as chilling to Cheryl Mason as something else Reeve had said...something she never even had a reason to give thought to before.

Didn't Dahlia say something similar...? About sacrifices...about...again, it was so hard to focus her thoughts...

...but more and more, it felt like Reeve Meyers' voice was all she could focus on as he continued: "For years I moved from one city to another, quietly and carefully, to avoid the so-called law and justice of the unbelievers...I wanted no part of this chaotic 'Land of the Free' and 'Home of the Brave'. My mystical abilites had slowly grown with me, especially my power to know another's thoughts...using those powers, I slowly found and recruited those who were prepared to receive my holy message." Somehow, some way, lunatics have always known how to find each other at the fringes of society...Reeve just had an added advantage. "I did not need too many to follow me at first...I simply wanted a group of faithful to bring back with me to Silent Hill, to show The Order my parents left behind that I was worthy of being one of their leaders!" Take a sociopath with a hyper-inflated sense of ego and raise him to believe in a 'faith' that not only preached that humans came before their God, believers can earn power and influence with enough sacrifices...it was as toxic a combination as could ever be imagined. "I returned to Silent Hill in 2008...and like it's neighbor on the other side of Toluca Lake, Shepherd's Glen, it was all but dead. And so was The Order, destroyed by its enemies.

"But as long as there is one true believer, a faith will _never_ die.

"I saw in the ashes of The Order's fall the opportunity for me to resurrect it. I stayed in Silent Hill in spite of its fog, in spite of its dangers, and I learned all I could...I learned everything my blasphemous parents never taught me, all of their most ancient and powerful spells and secrets. I also began to gather more followers through the Internet. I took my time to learn The Order's history...I wanted to know how it could have fallen so completely so that I could avoid repeating their mistakes. I found our faith's secret church, and I began to gather all the information I needed. I learned how its end came because of the foolishness of your mother and her successor, Claudia Wolf. Margaret Holloway took control of what remained of The Order, but they were all destroyed by those meant to be sacrifices in Shepherd's Glen."

Reeve Meyers, High Priest of his misbegotten cult, leaned forward and his face drew to within a foot of Cheryl Mason's. She wanted to fight him, to shut his damned mouth, and with the simple pure power of her will she should have been able to...but...she couldn't. Cheryl couldn't even move, her limbs felt like lead...worse, something in his voice...overwhelmed her. _Something kept her from doing anything but listening._ Reeve said, looming over her, "And most importantly, through the journals of your mother and Claudia, I learned about _you_...Alessa Gillespie, the one meant to be our Mother of God. You were to be the salvation of this chaotic quagmire of a world. But instead, you became our greatest enemy, just like your damned heretic father, Harry Mason."

Reeve's expression had turned harsh...but then he smiled as his voice lightened, as he said, "Tell me something. Did you simply think it was a fortunate turn of events that you found out about Doctor Burton Young, a former associate of Michael Kaufmann, who also performed services for The Order? Did you think you could then hunt for us here in Black Falls, bring an end to us once and for all?" He shook his head slowly. "I knew nothing would have made you want to go back to Silent Hill, so it was useless to set a trap for you there. But I learned of the connection between Kaufmann and Young myself during my research of The Order's history, and I decided make use of it. After our covenant took some time to establish ourselves here, one of my followers passed on the information to one of Douglas Cartland's informants, and that knowledge moved to Cartland...and finally to you. And so the Mother of God walked willfully and ignorantly into the trap we created." Reeve's smile opened and he flashed bright predatory teeth. Did he expect a response? Would it even have mattered if she did respond, or even could? No...

...because in the next moment, Reeve Meyers stopped smiling, hauled off and slapped Cheryl Mason brutally across her face. With the same hand he grabbed hold of her jaw, brought his face so close his almost touched hers, and he growled like an angry lion too long denied its meat. Again, in spite of the pain, in spite of her own anger, Cheryl couldn't say or do anything. She could only listen... "Mark my words, _bitch_...the time of reckoning is finally at hand. The enemies of The Order shall pay for their crimes. The day of this world's judgment has come. And so. Has. _Yours._"  
**  
-5-  
**  
The top floor of Wyler Community Hospital, which contained its administrative offices.

The largest office on the floor was for the Administrator himself, Doctor Burton Young...it took up almost a fifth of the area of the floor, and held surprisingly luxurious trappings. The office's sole occupant sat in his silver suit behind his huge desk, the big office windows behind it overlooking central Black Falls to the north. In spite of the place's obvious comforts, Doctor Young sat there with an expression of intense, quiet worry. His elbows were on his desk as the fingers of his hands laced together into fists before his mouth. The man an entire community came to trust and believe in could only wonder for the thousandth time how things could have gone so terribly wrong and so horribly far.

A harsh, heavy sound of someone kicking in the double-doors of his office signaled that he wasn't the only one who had questions.

Young recognized the beautiful, short-haired brunette, of course...he couldn't help but note how angry and deadly the bioterrorist agent was. She had an SMG slung behind her back and her Beretta 9mm handgun in her slender, gloved hands. Young wasn't surprised to see her, and he nodded as he said cordially, "Agent Chambers."

Rebecca Chambers stopped a few feet in front of his desk, and she contined to point her handgun at him. She nodded in return and said with anxious, barely-contained need, "Doctor. I'm only going to ask this once. _Where is Cheryl Mason?_"

Young smiled and nodded. "Of course. I'll take you to her." The old man stood slowly from behind his desk, his eyes deeply tired in their gaze. "I can only imagine what you must think of me - "

In a clipped tone, Rebecca cut him short: "No, you can't. You really, _really_ can't."

The old man nodded again. "I see." It was then he finally noticed Rebecca hadn't come here alone. Two women had entered behind Rebecca, and he recognized them both. He offered a small smile and bowed deeply to them. "Ah, Gwen. Bea. I...I wish I knew what to say with you both present."

Bea Montoya looked at Doctor Young with the wide eyes of someone who needed to understand, but wasn't fully sure she wanted to. She said carefully, "Doctor...I don't want to believe it, but...Agent Chambers said on the elevator that you helped bring those parasites into our town? I-I mean, seriously?"

Young felt so tired as he nodded slowly. "Yes, young lady. I...I-I did."

His Head Nurse, Gwen Park, stared at him with quietly building anger and fear. "And now you've taken part in a kidnapping." It wasn't a question. Young nodded, anyway. Gwen shook her head and snarled, "For godsake, Doctor, _why?_"

Doctor Burton Young looked at the top of his desk in saddened acceptance of being caught, it seemed. He said, "Does it really serve a purpose to explain why? Contrary to all you must think of me, Agent Chambers, I am not an evil man. And I am not insane. Evil and insane, though, could properly describe Reeve and his misbegotten cult." He frowned thoughtfully. "To ask why I would help them _does_ serve a purpose, then. I suppose I can only say that in all of the truly important decisions I ever made in my life, I was motivated by fear. Fear made me leave Silent Hill, because I was so afraid of The Order. For decades, I thought I'd escaped them like I escaped Silent Hill...I had created a new life for myself as I worked to help and heal my neighbors in Black Falls. My one secret fear was that my past in Silent Hill would come back to haunt me. Imagine my horror, then, when Reeve came to me months ago..."

Rebecca Chambers said as she looked at Young above her gunsights, "I don't give a damn about any of that, Doctor. I just want you to take me to Cheryl - !"

The old man in the silver suit shakily held up a hand in a stopping gesture, his eyes entreating. "P-please...I don't intend to delay you in finding her, Agent Chambers, but there are things you need to know and understand. Reeve came to me months ago, and he asked that I perform...services for his cult. I didn't want to at first. I-I wanted to defy him, but he threatened to make public evidence that I once helped an old friend, Michael Kaufmann, manufacture and sell illegal drugs. Y-you must understand I couldn't allow that. I had done so many good works for Black Falls, I had become such a necessary part of this community - !"

As Gwen flanked her on one side and Bea on the other, Rebecca relaxed her aim slightly. She said in a cool tone, "But you let your fear get the best of you again. Is that right?"

Eagerly, Young quickly answered, "Y-yes! B-but more importantly, I...I couldn't let my past crimes undo everything I had accomplished here! Must a man pay for past sins when he has only sought to do good for his fellow man ever since?" He didn't pause for an answer... "W-with my help, Reeve f-found others in our town's government and certain local business owners he could...ah, employ for his purposes. It was not hard to see what The Order wanted: t-to take control of Black Falls in the same way they did Silent Hill. To be the unofficial power that ran things here. But...b-but it goes so much deeper, is so much more frightening than that. Reeve is a true believer in his faith, you see, and he told me in casual moments the purpose that Black Falls shall serve very soon."

Rebecca's blue eyes were locked on Young as she asked, "And what would that be?"

Doctor Young answered fearfully, "He described Black Falls as...as holy ground. That this is the place God will be reborn...i-it'll be from here God will extend her power to bring Paradise to Earth."  
**  
-6-  
**  
Somewhere else in the hospital. As Cheryl Mason laid half-naked and strapped down in a reclining chair, forced to look up at bright lights, Reeve Meyers looked down upon her as his voice rose in volume. He virtually announced, "You shall pay for your defiance by finally fulfilling your destiny as the Mother of God, Alessa! But you are not the only one who will suffer our covenant's justice. I meant it when I said the _enemies_ of The Order shall pay." Cheryl finally noticed a blonde woman in white standing at her left...Nurse Brenda Cunningham's expression was dispassionate as she stared down at the girl. Cheryl also saw that around all three of them a sterile green curtain had been set up on a rod that circled the immediate area, giving them a degree of solitude. That was about to change. But all of that time, there was something Cheryl didn't see, what Reeve referred to as a 'decoration' his people created in this room of the hospital. It was a circular design seven yards wide on the floor under her chair, painted red. It was the Halo of the Sun, the arcane symbol and totem of power of The Order. Reeve Meyers took a step back, and then another, and his eyes never left Cheryl's as he began to carry on like a bizarre showman...one of his hands took hold of part of the curtain as he said, "You are not the only one who must face justice for your crimes, so do not feel alone at the moment, Alessa...as you're about to see you have, shall we say, _a captive audience!_"

With a surreal, dramatic flair, Reeve Meyers quickly moved to the left and pulled the curtain with him, opening the three of them to the rest of the large room. Several more members of The Order were there watching...they were dressed like Reeve in black cloaks, except Cheryl couldn't see their faces because their hoods were up and shrouded their heads. There was one unique exception among them, however, but he appeared strangely as anonymous. He was a man of unknowable age in a black suit and tie, his head cleanly bald and almost shining under the room's light, his eyes shrouded by obsidian sunglasses...it was impossible to read the rest of his face; his features seemed impassive and devoid of emotion. Cheryl Mason had never seen this man before in any of her lifetimes, and yet...was there something strange about him...an aura she instintively _knew_ somehow, but she wasn't able to focus enough to really think about it.

But then Cheryl saw there were two more people there...a man and woman she recognized instantly, and she understood the terribly ironic meaning behind what Reeve said about 'a captive audience' because they were both bound in ropes and their mouths were gagged as they sat in chairs not far away. The brunette man was thin yet well-built, in only a shirt and blue jeans. The attractive blonde woman next to him was dressed only in a tank top and panties. The man and woman saw Cheryl, and their frightened eyes widened with surprise as they recognized her, too...but the one time they met not so long ago, they only knew Cheryl as Heather.

Reeve nodded with approval as he grinned at Cheryl and announced, "Good...you recognize the blasphemers Alex and Elle Shepherd! They were collected by some of my followers a few days ago and brought into Black Falls just last night." At the time they were 'collected' in Brahms, Maine, it was the end of a long day for both Alex and Elle and they were preparing for bed...but they wouldn't have gone to sleep right away because they both wanted each other so much, like they did most nights, and they knew how to make their most private moments exciting. But then their home was invaded by masked Soldiers who shot them both with tranquilizer darts before they had the chance to defend themselves or call for help. Reeve added, "They haven't been hurt yet...that will come later, after they bear witness to you becoming our Mother of God!" The leader of The Order turned to the captive couple then, moved to them, and stared at them with loathing...the feeling was mutual as both Alex and Elle stared at him hatefully. Reeve said coolly, "You thought you could destroy us and get away with it. You thought you could defy your own destinies as sacrifices to God. And all because you had to be so selfish...you both could only care for your own happiness together, and no one else's!" He opened his hands and shook his head. "And now, here you are...all of that defiance for nothing...just like Alessa."

Then...Reeve Meyers drew close and knelt next to the bound Elle Shepherd as her husband Alex stared at the cult leader angrily. He frowned with mock-sadness, reached out, and gently placed a hand over her slender belly...his oil-slick voice said, "Oh, and I know you're pregnant, Elle...and I don't care. In the name of justice for The Order, your yet-to-be-born child must be sacrificed with you." Elle's face became a maelstrom of primal emotions - anger, hate, fear, and more washed across her face in reaction as she glared at Reeve, as her pulse skyrocketed and she breathed frantically through her nose in response to his horrifying threat to her unborn child. Alex Shepherd responded with as much pure fury...he struggled violently to get out of his bounds as his face and his eyes turned red with hate, as he tried to scream through his gag. Reeve regarded Alex and grinned. "Save your strength, Alex! You'll need it if you're going to watch your wife and the baby you could have had die before you do!"

Reeve Meyers coldly rose again and looked at Cheryl Mason. He said, "You know, I almost had Cybil Bennett fetched here, too? She did try to help your father, but she never directly brought harm to our covenant...still, her time will come regardless, along with Douglas Cartland's!" He then spread his hands and smiled triumphantly. "The time is nearly here for _all_ heretics and non-believers to be damned when our God is finally resurrected, and the faithful will know everlasting grace in the rapture of Paradise!"  
**  
-7-  
**  
Doctor Young's office, in those moments. Rebecca Chambers said, "The only way The Order can see their God reborn is if they have Cheryl, so they can make her their God's mother."

Young said quietly, "Yes...yes, Reeve did mention that more than once."

"W-wait, a mother?" Gwen Park looked confused, and understandably so. "But there was nothing wrong with that girl when they brought her in. She sure didn't look pregnant!"

Rebecca frowned...she was so afraid for Cheryl. "That'll change, Gwen. The Order has to perform this ritual to make Cheryl pregnant."

Gwen looked at her. Bea Montoya blinked and said, "Uh, a-a ritual?" The girl's first thought was that if a woman had to be made pregnant, she'd need a guy...!

Rebecca kept her focus on Young as she said to Bea, "All you need to know is Reeve wants to do something terrible to Cheryl! There's only one thing that doesn't make sense to me, so you answer as fast as you can, Doctor! Why did those people in the ICU have to become victims of those parasites?! I know Reeve wants to use those things to control people, but those patients aren't in a position to be useful to him at all! What was the point of their being hosts?!"

Doctor Young sighed heavily as he began to step from behind his desk, which automatically made Rebecca's two-handed grip on her Beretta tighten. But the nervous old man didn't present an overt threat as he began to explain quietly, "Reeve told me he got those terrible creatures from Silent Hill. He said that Dahlia and her followers began using them after I left that damn town, after he said things...changed there, and I'm not sure what he meant by that. I never wanted to know anything about what happened to Silent Hill after I escaped it. Reeve said he needed, ah, puppets...people he could easily control in the same way Dahlia did." The old man was in front of his desk by that time, only a few feet away from Rebecca as she kept her aim on him. "But Reeve said he'd never used the creatures before he came to Black Falls, and he wasn't completely sure that the parasites would do what he wanted. H-he said _summoning_ them was one thing, but he wanted to be sure he'd _control_ them."

Rebecca's eyes narrowed. "He wanted to be sure...?"

"Y-yes. That was why Reeve chose those poor people at random since May. Even if it risked exposing The Order, he...he needed test subjects."

Gwen Park gasped, horrified. "Dear god...! That's what those people in the ICU are? This lunatic's _test subjects?!_" Bea Montoya's eyes became as wide as saucers as the pretty candy striper could only shake her head quietly.

Young looked down at his expensive carpet and sighed, "Yes. You saw how those patients are a virtual cross-section of our community, Agent Chambers. Young and old. Male and female. Those athletic and those out of shape. Each of the hosts followed his commands perfectly after the parasites took control. It has been my responsibility to monitor them ever since they were exposed to the public and brought to my hospital. Reeve wanted me to monitor the health of the hosts, ensure the symbiosis stayed stable over time...things like that."  
**  
-8-  
**  
Somewhere else. Reeve Meyers fixed on Cheryl Mason and clapped his hands together loudly. "Now! Before we begin the ritual to make you our most holy Mother, an important piece of business. I meant it when I said I wasn't as powerful as you are, Alessa. I am not even as strong as my predecessors, the High Priestesses Gillespie, Wolf and Holloway. As things stand at the moment, I don't even have enough power to perform the ritual to make you our Mother of God." Reeve smiled darkly then. "However. I discovered when I was in Silent Hill, in its fog, my powers _increased_. At first, I didn't understand why...but then I was enlightened. With the help of my patron, Valtiel, I understood what happened to that town when it was claimed by the never-ending fog, and then shifted back and forth ever since between that and darkness!" He slowly began to walk back to Cheryl, his dark eyes looking into hers. "If I need to gain even more power, power enough to make you fulfill your destiny...if I am to earn even more blessings from our patron Valtiel and our God...then I must be closer to them. I must step into places beyond this earth...places far beyond. Or perhaps it's better to say _I must bring those places to me, just like those places were brought to Silent Hill._" Cheryl's hazel eyes stared at him, transfixed, but inside she felt a jolting, nightmarish fear. Reeve nodded. "Yes, Alessa...you know what I mean, and so you must know what I now want." Behind him, the bald man in the black suit silently moved from his position and quietly left the room, his purpose unknown. Alex and Elle Shepard ignored the unknown man's departure as they fixed on Cheryl fearfully, unsure of what was about to happen.

Reeve continued as he closed in on Cheryl: "But I know you'd never give me what I want willingly, and so I took a necessary step to remedy that." He gestured to Nurse Cunningham on her left. "Your nurse here gave you a stimulant to help you wake up for me...just before she then administered to you a dosage of a very powerful psychoactive serum. It will only last for a handful of hours, but I will only need a fraction of that time. The serum is a black market variant of a mind control drug created by Albert Wesker, who I understand was one of the most wanted terrorists on the planet before he died. Well, that isn't important, of course." Rebecca Chambers would have felt differently...she would have loathed the fact the ghost of that madman continued to haunt the world in some way, especially in this circumstance. "Anyway, this is a different version of what he created."

Reeve Meyers stood over Cheryl then as he spoke... "The serum makes the subject completely submissive and susceptible to control, Alessa. By now, it must have taken full effect, and I can feel you're completely focused on my voice by now." Unfortunately, terribly, he was right. "The serum, combined with my admittedly limited power, will be more than enough to coax you into doing what I want."

Reeve spared a quick glance at Nurse Cunningham, who took a cell phone from her dress pocket and she speed-dialed a number as she turned away from Cheryl. She didn't wait long for an answer, and she said very quietly, "It's about to happen. Make sure your fellow lieutenants are ready."

Reeve leaned forward and placed his hands on either side of Cheryl's head, resting them on the top cushion of her chair. His eyes looked deeply into hers. "I know you have only done this unconsciously before, Alessa, when your mother Dahlia tried to make you the Mother of God. What you did still lingers over Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen to this day. Now, it's time for me to reach into you...and make you reach out."

Reeve Meyers then laid his hands on both sides of Cheryl Mason's head as he stared into her eyes...and he reached into her as his thoughts commanded:  
_  
"Reach out, Alessa...reach out beyond this pathetic world...reach out to the eternal..."_

Cheryl did her level best to struggle, to deny this cold, sadistic leader of The Order, but her defenses had already been compromised because of the incredibly powerful hypnotic that ran through her system, that overrruled her free will and her ability to fight. In a few moments as she reclined under him, in spite of herself, she felt pure horror as she did what she wanted, something she had never, ever wanted to do willingly since that black night in Silent Hill. Her power reached out into the mysterious, eternal ether beyond living sight...and like before, she found something, but this time it wasn't an accident, it was because of the terrible desires of another.  
_  
"...reach out and find that place of never-ending fog, and connect it to Black Falls..."_

Cheryl found the strength to scream in her mind, _No-no-no-no-NO, I can't do this, this bastard knows as well as I do what will happen and he doesn't care, but I care, I mustn't let myself...!_ But it was no use. She touched that other place, and she began to build a bridge to connect that world to this one, to the town of Black Falls. No...no, it wasn't so much building a bridge as...creating an opening, a gateway between those worlds, and her power made it so easy, so terribly easy.

And Reeve Meyers finally roared into her mind, _"...make this town inherit the legacy of Silent Hill...AND ENSURE MY EVERLASTING GLORY!"_

Cheryl Mason tried again to resist, but she knew a building pain in her mind and her nose began to bleed copiously as the leader of The Order clutched her head in his hands, as her eyes glowed with an incandescent blue light. Alex and Elle Shepherd could only stare with wide, stunned eyes at the beautiful blonde girl as they feared for her. Under the chair she was secured in, the red Halo of the Sun on the floor pulsed and glowed with crimson light as her power was used to serve its faithful. She felt the fog coming through the gateway she built, and in one last act of defiance her soul reached out needfully to touch the soul of another, the one she knew and adored above all others...and from within, Cheryl Mason screamed:  
_  
BECCA!_  
**  
-9-  
**  
Gwen Park had more than enough...completely outraged, the Head Nurse began to stalk toward Young from behind Rebecca Chambers as she said in escalating volume, "You monster...you heartless MONSTER!" Rebecca shifted her focus and lifted her Beretta to point at the ceiling as she gently yet firmly restrained Gwen with one arm. The lady in white screamed, "HOW COULD YOU?!" Bea Montoya's entire being seemed to cringe...the candy striper could only watch as she lifted her fists to her mouth defensively.

Rebecca had to shift her focus to the Head Nurse, but a part of her wanted to just let the lady have this 'pillar of the community'. She said, "Gwen - !"

Doctor Burton Young, meanwhile, was about to panic. He'd edged slowly toward the double-doors to his office as he held his hands in front of his body and stammered, "G-Gwen, please! I-I told you I'm not an evil man, _I swear I'm not!_"

But Rebecca Chambers realized what he was trying to do and she briskly pointed her Beretta at him again...he stopped cold and lifted his hands. Rebecca snarled, "No, but you're just as bad! You're a coward and you're weak! You cared too much for yourself, and you were too afraid to defy The Order!" Rebecca moved from Gwen - who managed to calm herself only a little as her eyes burned into the old man - toward Young as she said harshly, "You're still a _conspirator_, Doctor! _It's the likes of you who help evil people get what they want in this world!_" Rebecca Chambers reached Young and grabbed the old man's tie as she put the muzzle of her handgun under his bearded chin...her own building fury and overwhelming need to save Cheryl made her shout, "And I'm officially out of patience! I want to know where Cheryl Mason is! TALK!"

Helplessly, sadly, Doctor Burton Young finally said in a quiet tone, "Reeve...Reeve has the Mason girl in the Delivery Room on the second floor."

Rebecca stared at him. Knowing what The Order wanted, there was a perverse, terrible meaning to her being taken to such a room. She wanted to kill Young then. "You...you son of a - !"

But Young was pathetic as he desperately pleaded, "I-I-I _had_ to do everything The Order wanted, don't you see? I honestly didn't care what kind of rewards Reeve said I'd be blessed with for my help! _You have no idea how crazy they are!_"

Rebecca's lips thinned into a line as she held the old man at gunpoint. "Tell me very quickly! How many of those lunatics are in this town? How many people have they taken control of with parasites?!"

Young said quietly at first, "I don't know." But Rebecca didn't like that answer and she glared at him as she jabbed the underside of his chin with her Beretta. Young fearfully said, "I-I swear I don't know! A-all I can tell you is what Reeve told me! He...h-he said by today, he'd have enough strength in numbers to take control of this town!"

Rebecca's eyes examined him desperately. "Wait a minute! Doesn't Reeve want to be in control of this town _in secret_, like Silent Hill was under Dahlia Gillespie and her followers?!"

Young shook his head as he moaned, "I keep telling you, the man's out of his mind! I-I wanted to know what he meant, too...a-and all he'd say was that this day would be special. _He said he'd have the strength to isolate this town from the rest of the world and ensure God's rebirth after the fog came._"

Rebecca Chambers' being froze then. She remembered everything Cheryl Mason went through in her previous lives. She remembered the fog Cheryl brought to Silent Hill, the fog she had seen and felt and knew was so damned wrong. And only bad, bad things could come with that fog, only decimation and death. Did Reeve want to make history repeat itself - ?! Rebecca realized horribly the answer to that question was yes, and she said softly, "Dear god." She took firm, angry hold of Young's tie then and snarled, "C'mon, damn you! You're coming with me - !"

That was when Cheryl Mason's mystical scream reached Rebecca Chambers, and the agent's body went rigid, like she was just struck by lightning. She screamed as she let go of Doctor Young's tie and her Beretta, and she brought her gloved hands up to clutch her head. Blood began to flow from Rebecca's nose and drip on the carpet as she stumbled back from Young and fell on her behind...she continued to hold her head as she thought fearfully, needfully of Cheryl.

Doctor Burton Young didn't understand what just happened...but then he looked down at his feet and realized the agent dropped her handgun. He knew this was his only chance. In spite of his age, he lowered to one knee quickly to pick up the Beretta...but he didn't reckon on Gwen Park. The Head Nurse wanted to help Rebecca, but something inside of her told her to focus on her boss, and she was glad she did. He saw him make a move for the gun, and she dashed forward, reached out with both hands and harshly shoved into the old man's shoulders. Doctor Young was sent sprawling on his back, and he knew only flaring pain...at his age, he was damned lucky nothing was broken. Bea Montoya, who could only stand there and watch with quiet horror, turned around reflexively to look out the big windows behind Young's desk. The whole situation was nearly too much for the young candy striper.

As Doctor Young struggled to sit up on the carpet, he heard Gwen say, "D-don't move, Doctor!" He looked up and was crestfallen to see his Head Nurse holding the Beretta he had wanted to gain in both of her slender hands. In spite of her firm grip on the weapon, Gwen wasn't experienced with guns...that combined with her own fear at the moment made the gun tremble dangerously as she pointed it at Young. She said again, "Don't you dare move!"

"Gwen..." The Head Nurse turned to see Rebecca, who was sitting on the carpet, too. The agent gave her a worried look and counseled, "You...y-you'd better be careful, the safety's off...!"

Gwen moved to the agent to help her. "Rebecca...what just happened to you!? You're bleeding - !"

Rebecca said loudly, "I'm all right!" Actually, she was far from all right as she wiped her bloody nose with the back of one gloved hand and sniffed heavily. But for Gwen and the people of Black Falls, for Cheryl Mason, she had to stay strong. Rebecca encouraged in a softer tone, "I'm all right, really." The Head Nurse offered a hand and Rebecca gratefully took it...the lady in white helped the agent stand. Rebecca then extended an open hand toward the gun Gwen held and said, "Here, I'll take that..."

Gratefully, Gwen Park gave the agent back her Beretta. "O-okay!"

Rebecca felt so much gratitude to Gwen in turn and nodded deeply. "Thank you again." Then her expression chilled as she turned to Doctor Young, who was finally sitting up on the carpet. He pointed the gun in her right fist at the old man and began to order, "Get up, Doctor - !"

That was when Rebecca Chambers finally noticed...and so did Gwen Park next to her. They had both been so focused on Doctor Young, they didn't realize. But now they and Young looked at his office with confusion and shock. _Everything in the office had changed._ Before Rebecca felt Cheryl's terrible cry, the luxurious surroundings of fine wood furnishings and old-fashioned New England style accoutrements had been well cared for by whoever Young hired as housekeepers for his office. Every color was bright and every surface gleamed. Not anymore...within a space of heartbeats, perhaps less, the office looked..._older_ than it had before. It looked strangely like the office had aged an unknowable number of years in a moment, and there had never been anyone to care for it in that time...there was grime and dust everywhere, and even some of the furniture looked to be in a state of disrepair. The once-bright colors had muted. What once gleamed had become dull.

And then Bea Montoya called out, "Gwen? A-Agent Chambers?!" They both turned to the candy striper, who was still looking out the grimy windows of the office, but the glass wasn't so dirty it wasn't possible to look outside, which was what Bea was doing with horrified eyes. The candy striper asked anxiously, "What happened to the world?! _It's like everything faded away!_"

And through those windows, Rebecca and Gwen saw, the world might as well have.  
_  
They only saw a thick, bleakly gray fog that obscured everything._

Rebecca Chambers knew then: she was fast running out of time to save Cheryl Mason...if she wasn't too late already.  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**My apologies for keeping you in suspense, Chapter 10 is finally here! Rebecca Chambers is on a desperate drive to save Cheryl Mason from The Order, but it may already be too late for her AND Black Falls. The cult's cold-blooded leader, Reeve Meyers, has forced Cheryl to use her power to bring the fog of Silent Hill to the small Vermont town. Things are going from bad to worse to terrible too bloody fast as Reeve prepares to make Cheryl the mother of his demonic God once and for all!**

**Fair warning: mature content begins to appear in this story with a vengeance...you'll know when it happens, and it even disquieted me. It isn't my intention to disturb readers, but if this does, I can only give my most sincere apologies. So let me be clear at times like this: this chapter has content and language FOR MATURE READERS ONLY!**

**Bonus! Helena Harper and Ingrid Hunnigan from RESIDENT EVIL'S universe join the story...along with Leon S. Kennedy! (He's not just 'phoning it in' anymore, like you've seen previously!)**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**Chapter 10:**

**"THE FOG"**

**-1-**

**Division of Security Operations Headquarters**  
**Somewhere in Washington, D.C.**

**Less than one block away from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the address of the White House, and a few stories underneath the capital city, was the top secret subterranean headquarters for the Division of Security Operations. **The DSO was a special counter-bioterror group known as 'the sword of the President'...an organization autonomous from Joint Special Operations Command and responding only to Presidential order, it recruited the very best agents from other groups and branches of the federal government to combat the escalating scourge of bioterrorism and bio-organic weapons. Since their orders to efficiently eliminate any threat to the citizens of the United States came directly from the President, such orders and the group's execution of the same were considered law and 'absolute justice'. The DSO was created by the late President Adam Benford late in his first term of office, only two years earlier...ironically, Benford was assassinated in June by the same international conspiracy responsible for unleashing the C-Virus upon the world.

The subterranean offices of the DSO were dedicated to information gathering, witness protection, and other purposes. It also held training and tactical exercise facilities to keep agents fit and sharp in their abilities. One large room contained an Olympic-size swimming pool for agents to use in their off hours. One of the newest agents of the DSO was there, swimming laps from one end to the other and back again. She was a brown-haired woman who exuded as much strength as she did beauty in her black swimming suit, her strong arms and legs driving her through the water. For most of her time in the pool, she had been alone...

...but when she stopped at one end, her breaths and pulse racing from her exertions, she looked up at saw Leon S. Kennedy standing at the side of the pool and looking down upon her with his naturally confident smile. Leon, one of the founding members of the DSO, nodded and greeted, "Helena!"

Helena Harper couldn't help but smile back. "Hi, Leon! What are you doing here?" An extraordinary, unique bond developed between Helena and Leon during what proved to be a chaotic, bloody summer of 2013. It was a tragic, horrible time for Helena especially, and Leon wasn't surprised to see there was still a haunted sadness in the lady's eyes, in spite of her smile.

Leon gestured to the nearby steel ladder that descended into the pool. "We need to see the President. Something serious is happening in Vermont." It hadn't been long since he got word from Chris Redfield of the BSAA about Rebecca Chambers and what she had been investigating, her working with Cheryl Mason, and how things suddenly, dramatically took a turn for the worse.

"Vermont?!" Helena immediately began to wade to the ladder as she kept her eyes fixed on Leon, who walked and kept pace with her. "That's not far from here...!"

Leon's confidence turned to an unsure frown. "I have no idea if this is a national security threat, Helena, but I do know some kind of creatures are being used to control people." Leon had experience with such monsters, from a nightmare incident years ago that he remembered like it happened yesterday: it was a life or death struggle against the _Los Illuminados_ cult in Spain, their use of mind-controlling parasites to create their own army, and their kidnapping of the First Daughter at the time, Ashley Grahm. In so many ways, his work at that time as a Special Agent answerable only to the President was the inspiration for the DSO. "We need to see the President so we can get his approval to find out."

"Okay!" Helena reached the ladder and climbed...as half of her amazing, statuesque body got out of the pool, Leon offered a hand. Helena gladly took it and he helped her out the rest of the way. The vision of the lady was striking as she stood next to the man who was also one of the few survivors of the disaster of Raccoon City. They weren't far from her towel and bundled clothes, which rested on a bench. Helena nodded to them and said, "Give me just a minute to dry off and dress."

"A minute? But you just got out of the pool...!"

"And you _did_ say this was serious, so I'd better get dry and dressed now!" With a self-conscious smile, though, Helena lifted a hand and twirled one of her fingers as she added, "Uh, turn around first, okay?"

Leon smiled and nodded. "Okay." Ever the gentleman, he turned toward the pool, and Helena quickly stripped nude from her swimming suit. Leon turned his attention to his smart phone and speed dialed a number. In a few seconds, a brunette beauty with glasses appeared on his screen. "Hunnigan?"

"Hey, Leon," Field Operations Support Comm Officer Ingrid Hunnigan answered. "A spy bird is being retasked to look down on Black Falls, Vermont like you wanted. It should reach its destination any minute now." The lady gave him a scornful grin. "This had better be as important as you say it is...I had to call in a few favors to get this done on such short notice, and you're not exactly on a mission right now!"

"I have a bad feeling I'll be on a mission very soon," Leon said quietly. "But at least now _I_ owe you a favor."

Hunnigan's smile became bright. "I'm holding you to that, buster!" She looked off the screen at something, and her lovely face shifted to become pure business. "Okay...bingo! I'm getting the real-time satellite feed now. Coordinates verified. So _that's_ Black Falls, huh? I don't see anything out of the ordinary."

"That could change anytime, Hunnigan. Just keep your eyes peeled, okay?"

The lady with glasses gave the agent an annoyed glance. "Hey, I don't get a charge from watching stuff!" She looked back offscreen as she informed him knowingly, "I do enough of that making sure you get through your missions in one piece - !" Hunnigan suddenly stopped cold, and her expression shifted suddenly to confusion, and then just as quickly to pure, outright fear. "Oh! Oh, _shit!_"

Leon felt like a lead weight just dropped into his gut. "Hunnigan? Talk to me!"

"L-Leon..." Ingrid Hunnigan managed to look at Leon, and the lady's eyes were wide behind her glasses. "...I-I was looking right at it as it happened, and I'm still not sure if I can believe it! Black Falls...i-it looks like it just got erased!"

"What, you mean _literally?_" This got Helena's attention...dressed in only her shirt so far, which provided just enough cover to protect her modesty, she moved up close behind Leon to look at his phone's screen.

Hunnigan frowned deeply as she looked back at the satellite feed. "No, b-but it might as well have been...some kind of _phenomenon_ just appeared. I-it looks like low cloud cover or some kind of heavy fog, and it just blanketed each and every inch of Black Falls. This _can't_ be natural, because it's actually conforming to the town's borders! I've never seen anything like this!" Her eyes full of worry, Ingrid Hunnigan looked at Leon. "Stand by, Leon, I'll send you a replay of how it started...now!"

Leon said, "All right...!" One second later, Leon was seeing Black Falls from orbit, its surroundings bright and green. Then, in the space of a few seconds, it was just as Hunnigan said. The entire town was covered in gray. "Oh, my god!"

Helena Harper saw it too, and relexively clutched his shoulders from behind. "Leon...wh-what the hell is going on there?!"

Leon S. Kennedy glanced at Helena and said, "I don't know, Helena...but we need to find out!"  
**  
-2-  
**  
Black Falls, Vermont was literally consumed by the spectral, never-ending fog at 5:03 P.M. Eastern Standard Time.

For everyone in the town, for those in the rural homes and farms just within its borders, for most of the men, women and children attending the County Fair on the other side of King's Bridge, the fog appeared in exactly the same way at the same time.

One moment, it was a beautiful early evening in the late summer here in the green dairy country of central Vermont; the sun hadn't even thought of beginning to set yet as everyone in town - well, the overwhelming majority who had no idea what was coming - went about their business, kept to themselves, knew good fellowship, had fun, whatever. When time literally turned to the next moment, the gray appeared. It didn't come rolling in from the distance with the speed of a hurricane. It didn't appear with a 'poof!', either. The fog just..._happened_ in the space of a few seconds. Clear air became opaque with brackish, smoky mist in less time than it took to describe it.

The transition was still a jarring one, and the reactions of most everyone to the near-spontaneous arrival of the fog were the same. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared with shocked, wide-eyed bewilderment. Some laughed and thought it was a dumb, elaborate prank, while others feared it was smoke coming from a massive fire in the area. But there was a quality to this fog, something alien and unknown, something that wasn't of the world they knew. It was something oppressive and overwhelmingly wrong about the fog that made people elementally afraid.

Those who were indoors at the time saw many, many other things change. Black Falls shifted to become something..._darker_. It was the best way to describe it as everything unliving took on an aged, disused quality. Places that were clean became muted and bleak. A town alive and full of activity one moment turned to something stagnated and derelict...it looked like the town had literally been abandoned years ago, but the process only took seconds before the stunned eyes of those who witnessed it. Both telephones and cellular devices went inert instantly as anything with complex electrical systems shut down completely with the exception of lights, and they reduced to a state where in too many cases they flickered ominously.

At the County Fair itself. The rides creaked and screeched to a dramatic halt, trapping hundreds, as sound systems for music acts went jarringly silent and food stands lost power in the half of the County Fairgrounds that laid within Black Falls' borders. Automobiles weren't immune, of course. Every vehicle running, including those in turtle-slow traffic coming from the north and the south full of families who wanted to see the County Fair, died quietly. Well, that was true for the traffic that had been within the town...the fog ended at the borders, and cars that still had to enter town were still running, even though they weren't getting anywhere. Those who still had to enter town, north and south, suddenly felt a primal, superstitious fear as they bore witness to the fog's arrival as it covered the entire town; it stood before them like a great, gauzy gray wall that rose high into the sky.

In the town, in the fog, panic began to take hold of many, and some started screaming. Sheriff's Office deputies and State Police officers there to keep order while the County Fair was going were virtually helpless, even those at the borders controlling traffic. Those who were outside and suddenly staring at a wall of fog couldn't get in touch with their fellow officers inside of town, who found their radios suddenly were only worth sounding off with a strange static.

That was when The Order made its move, as planned.

Just before the fog arrived one of cult leader Reeve Meyers' followers, Nurse Brenda Cunningham, notified one of his lieutenants to get every Order Soldier ready, and he quickly called his fellow team leaders. There were 55 members of The Order all told in the town, all that was left of that monstrous faith that believed they were instruments of a twisted form of order that sought to bring Paradise to a chaotic world, all in the name of their terrible God. Tragically, terribly, their numbers were made three times stronger by those who Reeve called Puppets, people who had been possessed by monstrous, intelligent parasites that obeyed him and his followers. The numbers of the Puppets had grown, especially in the past week, and they were about to serve their purpose as enforcers of The Order's agenda. The combined teams of Soldiers and Puppets were waiting in many, many vehicles strategically parked at places along the borders of Black Falls.

When the fog came, these forces were given one mission by the word of Reeve Meyers. To lock down the town. To ensure that no one entered, and just as importantly that no one left.

With the fog on their side, less than a minute after it arrived, the forces of The Order got out of their vehicles. They were all heavily armed, and when they reached the fringe of the smoky mist they opened fire both within and without. The situation quickly devolved into sheer, bloody pandemonium along the borders of Black Falls. The Soldiers and Puppets were mainly concerned with driving those already inside the fog further into the gray, but they also focused ruthlessly on the law enforcers of the Sheriff's Office and the State Police, who because of communications breakdown were hopelessly unable to counter their enemies. Thudding explosions from hand grenades sounded from the choked traffic as vehicles detonated, and from the Fairgrounds where innocents of all ages began to die in the hundreds. Still, there were hundreds of men, women and children who, mostly because of luck, managed to run out of the fog and to relative safety. Unfortunately, many many more were forced to run deeper into the mist...into a smoky gray that offered no hope. Most of the population of Black Falls and thousands of fairgoers were trapped.  
**  
-3-  
**  
The Delivery Room on the second floor of Wyler Community Hospital, in the heart of Black Falls. The crimson Halo of the Sun on the floor glowed brightly as Cheryl Mason sat helplessly in the chair in the arcane symbol's heart. She was helpless because of the control serum given to her, and her nose continued to bleed because she had been forced to bring the fog to Black Falls, the same fog that shrouded both Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen. Cheryl's half-open eyes were full of anger both directed inward toward herself and to the man who made her use her power against her will. Not far away, bound and gagged in their chairs, Alex and Elle Shepherd barely noticed that the room had changed to become darker and derelict. They were fixed on both Cheryl and the hateful presence of the leader of The Order.

Reeve Meyers looked around him and smiled in triumph...he spread his hands and declared, "Yes...yes, I can feel my powers grow stronger, just as it was in Silent Hill!" He looked at his cloaked followers in the room, at Nurse Brenda Cunningham, and he said, "Truly, ours is a giving and loving God." Reeve then looked down upon Cheryl Mason and grinned. "Before I make you realize your destiny once and for all, Alessa, our faithful soldiers outside will need help both in bringing order to this pathetic town and defending our holy ground from any interlopers from the outside world. More servants of our God will be needed from...somewhere else." He quickly moved from where he stood in the Halo of the Sun to a countertop where a thick, black book laid...on its obsidian cover was the symbol of The Order, as well.

Reeve returned to stand close to Cheryl in the heart of the glowing, pulsing Halo on the floor, and carefully opened the book. The book was, for want of a better description, The Order's 'bible'. It didn't just hold perverted testaments and ugly, profane verses...it also contained ancient spells and rituals, far too many of which were powered by the blood of human sacrifices. Reeve turned to one of the few spells, however, that only required mystical power on the part of the one who wished make that spell reality. Reeve reached the page he wanted full of script written in blood and mused, "This may drain much of the power I have already gained, but it must be done. Besides...the unfaithful who live here must know the meaning of penance for being so sinful." He smiled in anticipation as he spoke in a voice that built in volume with each moment. "The unbelievers value the chaos that comes from their liberty and pursuit of happiness, do they? They'd rather have the uncertainty of freedom than embrace any true form of order?! Well, if they love chaos so much, _then let them be welcome to it!_" And Reeve Meyers began to speak a terrible spell of summoning in a language long forgotten.  
**  
-4-  
**  
Outside, in the city streets. In the farmland. In the County Fairgrounds. Reeve's summoning made things appear in the gray of the fog...and there were hundreds of them.

And then the screaming REALLY began...  
**  
-5-  
**  
Satisfied, Reeve Meyers closed the book as the Halo at his feet glowed with terrible brightness...the screams and chaos outside couldn't be heard in the Delivery Room, but he could feel it, and it was good. He considered Cheryl Mason, who could only look at him with half-open eyes as she reclined in the chair. "Now, finally, we have reached your moment of truth, Alessa Gillespie...it's time for you to become a mother." As he walked out of the Halo for a moment to return the book to where it had rested before, Reeve said, "Brenda, would you kindly prepare the patient?"

"Of course, your grace," Brenda Cunningham answered obediently. The blonde nurse began to prepare the drugged girl...she began to set the steel stirrups attached to the chair in their needed position.

Reeve set his book down again...next to a wooden box with strange, alien sigils carved into it. The box looked old...what was inside was even older. He opened the box, looked upon what was inside, and grinned. "You know, Alessa, I read in Claudia Wolf's journals how she tried to make you the Mother of God thirteen years ago. When she found you, you were taking a nap in a fast food restaurant of a shopping mall you liked to visit after school. Using her power, she made you lapse into a deeper sleep...and when she was sure no one else would see, she made you swallow an embryo of God she had summoned from...somewhere else."

Nurse Cunningham put Cheryl's feet in the stirrups, forcing her bare legs apart, and strapped them secure at her ankles.

Reeve said, "The embryo didn't have to be big, of course...it was as small as a grain of rice when she made you ingest it. Claudia also wrote that when she was done, she sensed that you had a dream of Silent Hill in response." With both hands, Reeve slowly, carefully took the thing from inside the box. "You must understand that in many ways, I'm not as...subtle as Claudia was. It isn't my intention to bring you undue agony, either...well, to be honest, I wouldn't mind causing you pain at all. I'd simply prefer to execute the formal ritual as it was done by your mother Dahlia when you were only a child in Silent Hill. I know you repressed the memory of that night, and it's time to remind you. I even have a full can of kerosene here in the room not far away to finalize the ritual." Reeve turned to Cheryl and slowly stalked toward her. "But before then, you must be impregnated...and I have a new embryo for our God with me, brought here from the darkest of shadows, within this tool that shall make you fulfill your destiny." He glanced down at what he held as he approached, then looked into Cheryl's eyes and smiled coldly. "You denied this destiny for far too long, Alessa, and you shall rightfully know agony because of that!"

Reeve Meyers stood not far from between Cheryl Mason's legs as Nurse Cunningham and his cloaked followers watched. Cheryl mustered all of her focus to look at what Reeve held...and with a sudden, soul-wrenching terror, she wished she didn't. She saw the _thing_ in his hands that held the embryo of his demonic God, and she couldn't help but recall the memory she'd repressed long ago of the unspeakable ritual she suffered at Dahlia's hands, because she used the terrible _thing_, as well. Helpless tears flowed from her eyes from remembering the terrible pain she felt that night even before the burning began. Reeve began to speak the ancient words for the ritual then, words first written at the height of the Sumerian civilization, as he raised the _thing_ he held in his hands to the level of his face...he invested his remaining mystical power he had into it, and it began to glow with a sickly amber light as the Halo of the Sun at his feet glowed urgently.

The _thing_ Reeve held, what he was about to use on Cheryl, was..._phallic_ in shape. It was about a foot long, and four sides of its length were bladed and terribly sharp. To ensure penetration.

Cheryl Mason could only stare through half-closed eyes as she watched Reeve speak, as the _thing_ in his hands glowed brighter and brighter. She felt the embryo inside, felt its horrid, all-consuming need for a mother to bring it into the world. Cheryl wanted desperately to fight, but she couldn't...she could barely even think as Reeve's words became louder, as he slowly raised the _thing_ in one hand high into the air. She knew what he was about to do, but there was nothing she could do because of the control serum. Cheryl Mason could only know despair in these monstrous moments...tears flowed from her eyes, and the only thing that brought her any solace was to think of Rebecca. _Oh Becca, Dahlia was right...I am nothing, just like she said. I can't even fight them anymore. I was never worthy of you, sweet Becca. I...I just wish I could see you one more time. I never told you how truly happy you made me...I wish I was given the chance...to show you..._

And without warning, the doors to the Delivery Room burst inward as Doctor Burton Young was shoved through them...Rebecca Chambers was immediately behind the old man, holding him by the back of his silver suit's collar with one hand as she carried her suppressed H&K MP5 with the other. She kicked the back of one of Young's legs, forcing him to his knees as he cried out, and he served as a partial shield as she raised her submachine gun up to her shoulder and aimed it into the room, holding it in both hands. Rebecca screamed, "EVERYBODY FREEZE!"

For the next instant, it was like time stopped.

Everyone in the room had frozen in their places. Everyone. Reeve, Nurse Cunningham and his cloaked followers were stock-still as they stared at Rebecca, shocked by her intrusion. The short-haired beauty was also like a statue and she almost forgot to breathe as she looked at the profane tableau before her...she barely registered Alex and Elle Shepherd as they looked at her with wide eyes. Rebecca's very being paused as she desperately tried to process what these bastards were about to do to Cheryl Mason as she was strapped in the Delivery Room chair. On his knees before her, Doctor Young's face slackened with shock.

And then Gwen Park and Bea Montoya entered the room behind Rebecca. The teenaged candy striper took one look at what was happening, and she gasped...she stared with wide eyes as her hands quickly flew up to cover her mouth. The Head Nurse, meanwhile, looked at the scene and felt a sudden, overwhelming mix of horror and outrage. Gwen breathed, "What the _hell - ?!_"

Burton Young, in spite of his position, was almost stunned beyond description by what he saw. Almost. Young finally roared at the leader of The Order, "REEVE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU REALLY ARE OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND!" Like he had to state the obvious.

One thing that needed to be understood about Rebecca Chambers...she had seen many bloody, terrible things in her short life, but she had never, ever let that affect her. Rebecca always looked at the world and everyone around her with a sunny, innocent purity. She believed in the inherent goodness of people and that justice was a reality in this world, not simply a flowery concept. She never let anything make her look at life from a darker perspective. And she never swore, even when things were bad, even when she felt at her lowest.

But at this moment of eternity, it was like an inner switch was turned in Rebecca's being as she understood with total revulsion what was about to be done to Cheryl Mason, someone she held more important than her own life, someone she grew to desire...to adore. The only reason it took her any amount of time to understand was because she was a truly good and decent young woman, because before this moment, she couldn't have imagined such complete evil. Rebecca Chambers felt a firestorm of fury build within her as she regained herself, her slender gloved hands tightened as she held her submachine gun, and her lovely lips peeled back in a snarl as she stared hatefully at the monsters in the room and she told them in a strong voice: _"I swear to god, I will shoot the first motherfucker who moves."_

Reeve Meyers stared coldly at Rebecca for a beat...and he decided he wasn't about to be stopped, not so close to victory. He looked back at Cheryl Mason, focused between her legs, and the arm that held the _thing_ in his hand tensed. Reeve was completely fixated on his goal to make Cheryl the Mother of God...it was a goal he wasn't allowed to reach.

Even with a suppressor attached, a firearm would still make noise...even if rounds were fired from it, the mechanical operation of the weapon itself wasn't reduced in volume at all. Rebecca Chambers fired a three-round burst from her MP5, and the sound that came from the gun was a metallic _chak!-chak!-chakk!_ And three rounds tore into the profane _thing_ Reeve held and made it shatter into a thousand pieces as it burst with a strange mystical glow. The embryo contained within was annihilated. Reeve grunted with pain as he reflexively lowered his arm and his other hand clutched his injured hand's wrist. He was damn lucky he didn't lose any fingers to the bullets. The Halo on the floor dimmed quickly, as if in response.

For emphasis, Rebecca screamed, "I FUCKING MEAN IT!"

But Reeve Meyers glared at her hatefully and began to growl, "How _dare_ you. You will not stand in the way of our holy work - !"

Fixed on Reeve, Rebecca ordered, "Just shut your damned mouth and step back to the far wall! ALL OF YOU STEP BACK!"

Nurse Brenda Cunningham still stood next to Cheryl as she stared at Rebecca. She said coolly, "You're the only one with a gun I see, bitch. You can't kill all of us - !" And she reached for the tray on the stand and grabbed a scalpel from it.

Rebecca Chambers wasn't in the mood. She fired another three-round burst, and her bullets tore into Nurse Cunningham's breast, and suddenly her short white dress turned red at her bosom. The bullets had torn apart Cunningham's zealous heart, and she was dead before she crumpled to the floor.

Rebecca said, "Maybe I can't kill you all, but I'll damn sure get an 'A' for effort!" She lowered the weapon to her hip, deliberately flicked a switch on its side, and added, "Especially with this bad boy on full automatic! That means I squeeze this trigger as I sweep it from one side to the other, and YOU'RE ALL DEAD!" Rebecca's eyes challenged Reeve and the black-cloaked people behind him as she shouted, "So who wants to die next?! HUH?!" She fixed purely on Reeve again. "You...you _must_ be Reeve...I remember hearing your damn voice in my mind! Maybe as long as I keep this gun aimed at you, the rest of your dogs will stay where they are!"

Reeve Meyers honestly seethed as he stared at the pixie. "You _will_ rue the day you blasphemed against our covenant, Agent Chambers. You will pay for standing in the way of the rebirth of our God and bringing order to this miserable world - !"

Rebecca interrupted him coldly: "I don't even want to hear you TALK anymore, asshole! Now you and your people step back! If you don't - !"

Reeve Meyers finished for her, "You'll kill me?" He smiled thinly. "I doubt that. You limit yourself with your pathetic morality, Agent Chambers. You wouldn't shoot an unarmed, helpless man."

Rebecca Chambers' eyes were bright with elemental anger. "You want to test me, Reeve? After I just saw what you were about to do to Cheryl?! Do you REALLY want to test me?!" Her entire being visibly tensed...the lady was only a hair's breadth from shooting Reeve, she truly was. For better or worse, Reeve lost his smile as he figured that out. Rebecca shouted one more time, "STEP THE HELL BACK!" Slowly, after a gesture to his cloaked followers, Reeve stepped backward...away from Cheryl...as the others did the same. Rebecca quickly moved closer to Cheryl as a consequence, and she wished with all her heart she could help the blonde girl. But she had to stay focused on Reeve and the rest of these monsters to make sure they wouldn't try anything. Rebecca said, "Gwen? Please help Cheryl out of this damn chair."

From behind the agent, Gwen Park said, "With pleasure." She walked quickly past Rebecca to Cheryl to begin undoing the straps that bound her wrists.

Rebecca then said to the candy striper, "Bea, untie those two." She nodded her head to the side toward Alex and Elle Shepherd.

"Yes, ma'am!" Bea Montoya moved behind Alex and Elle's chairs and began to untie them.

Rebecca glanced at the bound couple and said, "Alex, Elle, I swear I'll get you out of here!"

Almost forgotten, Doctor Burton Young was still on his knees on the floor. He was wringing his hands together as he stammered, "E-excuse me, I-I-I really need to go to the r-restroom - !"

Rebecca snapped at him, "Shut up!"

Suddenly, from Gwen: "Rebecca, Cheryl's been drugged!"

Hating herself for being unable to do more than glance at the one she adored, Rebecca saw that Cheryl Mason had her wrists free, but she hadn't moved an inch. Gwen was leaning over her, carefully looking into her eyes. Rebecca asked fearfully, "What did they give her, can you tell?!"

"Hold on..." Gwen saw that on the tray next to the chair was a vial. She picked it up, stared at it and frowned. "I recognize this crap. It's a very powerful hypnotic."

Rebecca snarled at Reeve, "You son of a bitch!" To Gwen: "Can you do anything for her?!"

Gwen shook her head as she checked Cheryl's pulse and was glad to feel it was steady. "I-I'm sorry, I have nothing to counteract this drug! But I know it's effects won't last long, maybe four or five hours! Cheryl will have trouble focusing and be physically incapacitated until then! She'll need help to get around!"

Rebecca nodded. "I understand." She glanced to her side and saw that Elle was freed, and she was helping Bea untie Alex...in a moment, he was free, too. Rebecca asked, "Bea, you and Gwen help Cheryl get the rest of her clothes back on, please?"

Bea said quickly, "Okay!" She moved over to help Gwen, and they collected the jacket, jeans and boots left in a pile on the floor not far away.

Rebecca glanced at Alex and Elle then. "I'm really sorry, guys, but I'll need your help, too!"

Alex and Elle Shepherd looked at Rebecca gratefully...Alex declared, "Anything you need, Rebecca, you've got it!"

Elle said, "I-I need to ask a favor first, Rebecca. Can you _please_ give me a gun?"

Rebecca smiled at the lady cop and nodded. "I've got one on my right hip, Elle." The Beretta, still in its holster.

Elle moved over to the agent as she breathed, "Thank you!" She reached Rebecca's right side and unholstered the handgun.

Rebecca said matter-of-factly, "The safety's on."

Elle Shepherd quickly flicked a switch on the gun from green to red and said, "Not _anymore_, it's not!" She swiftly pointed the Beretta at Reeve, and her expression was full of a righteous anger that mirrored Rebecca's. "You want to threaten my husband, huh? You want to threaten our _baby?_"

Rebecca frowned a little. "Elle - !" She was half-tempted to let Elle kill him.

Elle yelled at Reeve, "Tell me where the hell my father is! Did your people kidnap him, too?!" The last time she had seen her father was in their house, just before she and her husband were kidnapped by The Order.

Reeve Meyers almost laughed. "Please. Your useless invalid of a father wasn't even worth killing. We just left him in your house to starve to death. He can barely feed himself without help, if I'm not mistaken."

Elle Shepherd's eyes narrowed darkly as she said, "I'll see you _dead_ before you ever threaten my family again, you asshole...!" She felt such a need to shoot the bastard...

"Elle." Rebecca Chambers' voice was soft yet firm. "He isn't worth it, and we've got bigger problems. He just brought the fog to this town."

Elle looked at Rebecca with wide, terrified eyes as she remembered what Reeve said before, when he made Cheryl use her power. "The fog from Silent Hill...? My god, he really did it?!"

Alex Shepherd breathed, "Oh, Christ." Alex looked exactly the same way Elle did. They had both hoped and prayed they escaped that brackish fog forever.

Rebecca Chambers said with thick emotion, "Cheryl's all that matters...they made her do this, and she's the only one who can stop this. For her sake, for _all_ of us, I need to get her the hell out of here!"

By this time, Gwen Park and Bea Montoya had Cheryl fully dressed again. The Head Nurse turned to Alex and said, "Hey!" He looked at her. "I'm sorry, what's your name...?"

The man nodded. "Alex."

Gwen pointed to the side and said, "Alex, I need that wheelchair over there! Open it up and bring it over here!" The wheelchair was folded up and leaning on a wall. Alex got to it and tried to open it up, but it took a little effort. He then wheeled it over to Gwen, Bea and Cheryl, and its wheels squeaked loudly. It was probably once new, but like everything else in the room, like everything in town, it was derelict and seemed to have aged several years. Gwen nodded. "Thank you!" She looked at Bea and instructed, "Help me put her in that chair, Bea. Like this...!" Gwen put one arm under Cheryl's, and her other arm under the drugged girl's legs. Bea quickly echoed the Head Nurse and did the same on her side. "Okay! All together now, Bea...one-two-three!" As gently as possible, the Head Nurse and the candy striper lifted Cheryl Mason, carried her a few feet, and put her in the flexible cushion of the wheelchair. The blonde slumped into it, her body still incapacitated by the drug she'd been given. If not for her half-open eyes, she would have appeared asleep.

Rebecca urgently ordered, "All right, the three of you take Cheryl out of here and get her to the elevators!" She looked at Elle. "I'll need you to help me cover them, okay?"

Elle Shepherd nodded as she held the Beretta in both hands and trained it on Reeve and his followers. "These assholes will stay put, Rebecca, I swear!"

Alex looked at his wife with sudden worry. "B-but what about you both?!"

Rebecca shouted, "Just get Cheryl to the elevators! We'll be right behind you!" Alex Shepherd reluctantly nodded and with Bea Montoya followed Gwen Park as she wheeled Cheryl Mason out of the delivery room. Rebecca and Elle slowly backed to the doors, their guns fixed in their aim on Reeve and his followers.

Still on his knees on the floor, a pathetic vision of fear, Doctor Burton Young nervously asked them, "Wh-what about me?!"

Rebecca looked at the old man with contempt. "What about you?! Don't worry, Doctor, you should be okay! I am leaving you with _friends_, after all!" Rebecca Chambers and Elle Shepherd continued to back away until they were outside the threshold...and then they were gone.

Reeve Meyers walked to the center of the room, to the dimmed Halo of the Sun on the floor, and his expression was one of quiet fury. To have been at the very cusp of ultimate glory, to know the pure grace of his God...just to have it all denied him. Still on his knees, Doctor Young looked at Reeve and quietly began to say, "I-I-I'm so sorry, Reeve, b-but I had no choice - !"

Reeve snapped, "_Please_ shut up, Burton! And don't worry, I don't blame you for this turn of events." No, the leader of The Order blamed Sheriff Gulager, who had been tasked with making sure Rebecca Chambers wouldn't interfere, but he had clearly failed. Reeve Meyers finally smiled a little again, and there was only a pure terrible cold in that smile. "But if they honestly think they can defy the inevitable, they're wrong. And if they believe they can _escape_, they're sadly mistaken. They will never be able to find a way through the fog outside...and they won't last long against what lurks _within_ it. One way or the other, the blasphemers will die and the Mother of God will be ours again. She won't get far. No...she won't get far at all."  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**PREVIOUSLY: Rebecca Chambers and Cheryl Mason wanted to find the remnants of The Order, the cult responsible for the bleak fates of Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen, and stop them once and for all. Their search led to a small New England town of Black Falls, but tragically everything is threatening to go to Hell...literally. The Order's new leader, Reeve Meyers, just forced Cheryl to use her mystical power to bring the same fog that shrouds Silent Hill to Black Falls...but thankfully, before he could make Cheryl the Mother of his demonic God in the presence of the captive Alex and Elle Shepherd, Rebecca came to the rescue of the freckle-faced beauty she is falling in love with!**

**But now what? Rebecca, Cheryl, Alex and Elle need to get away from The Order and take time to regroup until Cheryl recovers. That means they have to brave the infamous, smoky fog...and the _things_ that lurk within it...**

**But they'll get some help from a surprising source in this chapter, dear readers. I foreshadowed it before a few chapters ago, but now finally it happens. Prepare to be _re_-introduced to the lost heroine of what could have been RESIDENT EVIL 2 (aka RE 1.5): Elza Walker!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**Chapter 11:**

**"THE PRISONER"**

**-1-**

**In the heart of Black Falls, which had been transformed into a fog-shrouded purgatory, the group moved as fast as they could to the bank of elevators on the second floor of Wyler Community Hospital. **In the lead was Head Nurse Gwen Park, who moved as fast as she could as she pushed the rickety wheelchair in which Cheryl Mason sat; the girl was drugged and barely able to think, much less move, as her slumped form rested limply in the wheelchair. Right behind them were Alex Shepherd and candy striper Bea Montoya. Alex was mostly focused on his wife, Elle Shepherd, as she and BSAA agent Rebecca Chambers brought up the rear...both women were armed and moving backward carefully as they kept their guns trained down the hall in the direction they came from in case any of the lunatics they left behind gave chase. No one followed the group before they rounded the corner, and in a moment they reached the bank of elevators. Like everything in this small Vermont town, the hospital had changed when Cheryl Mason was forced to use her power to bring the terrible fog. Bea Montoya said fearfully to the Head Nurse, "Gwen, I don't understand what's happened to the hospital! Everything looks so old and dirty!" It was as good a description as any for the state the hospital was in, which was nearly polar opposite to its formerly clean and sterile environment. But their surroundings had a much, much darker and foreboding quality that went beyond simply old and dirty, and it made everyone in the group feel a sense of dread.

Gwen Park was still trying to process all of that, along with only a hundred other things. The Head Nurse punched the down button and answered with quiet anxiety: "I don't know, Bea. I wish I did." Rebecca and Elle had caught up as a set of doors opened, and the group got into an elevator quickly. The doors closed, and the car began to descend slowly...it seemed to be as aged as everything else, and an uncomfortable grinding could be heard outside. Gwen looked at the pixie-cute brunette. "Rebecca, is it because of the fog? It sounds so crazy to ask that, but I...I-I feel like this and the fog are _connected_ somehow...!"

Rebecca Chambers' gaze was completely sympathetic to the Head Nurse. "You're not being crazy, Gwen. This has happened twice before. I came here because I didn't want this to happen again. I wanted to help Cheryl stop The Order..." Rebecca frowned sadly and looked down. "...and I failed."

Elle Shepherd said quickly, "Rebecca, don't say that! I blame those...those _animals_."

Gwen offered, "No, even animals are better than those bastards. God, what they were _about_ to do - !" The Head Nurse shuddered when she remembered what she, Rebecca and Bea saw when they entered the Delivery Room...and were just in time to stop something unspeakable from happening to Cheryl.

Alex Shepherd's eyes were soft as he looked at Rebecca. "You and Heather - I-I mean Cheryl, you both did your best, right?" The last time he had seen the blonde girl in the wheelchair, he and Elle knew her as Heather, when she was hunting for The Order. "Elle and I know we were lucky to survive them and...and everything they made happen years ago. You both wanted to stop them but you couldn't and there's no crime in that. Sometimes..." Alex looked down with a pained expression as Elle looked at her husband with sadness, as they both thought of the nightmare horrors they had been through in Shepherd's Glen and Silent Hill. "...sometimes shit happens in spite of us and what we want. I know that can't help much, but..."

Rebecca nodded shakily. "I-it does help, Alex...but it doesn't change what's happening now." The elevator came to a shaky stop, and the doors opened. The group moved into the main lobby area of the first floor, and it was a dark and dank place. Lights everywhere here flickered off and on like they did on the second floor, making the atmosphere relentlessly foreboding. They stopped a few yards from the entrance...through the broken, grimy glass doors, the obscuring fog strangely seemed to be brighter than the lobby. Parked at an angle just outside on the sidewalk was Sheriff Gulager's truck, where Rebecca left it...she'd been so fixed on finding Cheryl before, she didn't give a damn where she left it.

Rebecca moved in front of Cheryl and lowered to one knee, and she reached out with both hands...one carefully cradled one side of Cheryl's face as the fingers of her other hand gently combed through her blonde hair on the other side with perfect affection. Rebecca was on the verge of crying as she looked into Cheryl's half-open eyes, and her voice thickened with regret. "I-it doesn't make what those bastards still did to Cheryl hurt any less."

Alex and Elle were close together, holding hands. Elle said quietly, "We saw what happened to Cheryl when The Order made her bring the fog here. We had no idea she...she was so special..." But it was still so strange for Elle and Alex to accept, that Cheryl could have had such extraordinary power. Gwen and Bea drew close together too as they watched.

Rebecca nodded slowly as she looked at Cheryl. "She is, Elle. Cheryl is so much more special than...than I can ever tell you." And the way Rebecca said that, the way she looked at the blonde girl and carefully, tenderly touched her helped the others realize that Cheryl was special to _her_, in a truly profound way. Rebecca's voice trembled a little as she gently said, "Cheryl...? Honey, can you hear me?" For a beat, Rebecca wasn't sure if the one she adored could respond...Gwen would have told her if she had the chance it wasn't likely...

...but away from Reeve Meyers, who she had been forced to fix upon and surrender to, Cheryl Mason sighed...and then she spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, and it had to take an amazing amount of inner strength to simply do that in spite of the control serum: "B...B-Becca...?"

Rebecca smiled with relief, and she couldn't stop from crying anymore. "Cheryl - ! I'm here, honey! I'm here!"

Gwen Park was stunned to watch as Cheryl's eyes focused on Rebecca...and she managed a weak smile. "I...I'm so happy...to see you, Becca...so happy..." The blonde began to cry, as well, and quiet tears ran down her freckled cheeks.

Rebecca shook her head again as she frowned, as her wet eyes expressed shame. "I-I don't understand why. I swore I'd protect you...I-I failed you..."

The light in Cheryl's eyes shifted as she looked back at Rebecca adoringly. "Y-y-you haven't...failed me yet...you sweet, beautiful girl. D-don't say you did...okay?"

Rebecca Chambers issued a quiet sob as she looked into Cheryl Mason's eyes...and then answering a needful impulse, remembering the brief but sweet moment they shared in front of the hosptial, the brunette pixie drew close and slowly, tenderly kissed the blonde's full lips. They both closed their eyes as Cheryl managed to kiss Rebecca back, and in that singular moment they felt each other's warmth and knew such a certainty and strength because of their ever-growing feelings for each other. The rest of the group quietly watched the women kiss briefly, and they felt a quiet happiness for them. Rebecca broke the kiss reluctantly, and she and Cheryl looked at each other...for a moment they were both unsure what to say next.

But because of the circumstances, Gwen Park was the next to speak... "Rebecca? I'm sorry, but you and Cheryl can't stay here, not with those lunatics still in the hospital. There might even be more of them on their way here, for all we know. But...where will you go?"

Rebecca's slender hands moved from Cheryl face to hold the blonde's hands...the agent looked at Gwen and said, "We have to escape this damn fog and get out of town, at least until Cheryl recovers. Then we'll be in a better position to - !"

Cheryl suddenly, quietly interrupted, but again it took great effort: "N-n-n-no."

Rebecca looked back at the blonde quickly. "Cheryl...?"

Cheryl managed, "We...can't leave...Becca. Wuh-we came here...to stop those assholes...r'member?"

The pixie felt sudden fear in her gut for the blonde. "But you can't stay here, not in the state you're in! It'll take hours before the shit they gave you wears off!"

Cheryl Mason frowned softly. "Doesn't...matter..." She fell quiet again...but then Rebecca heard the beautiful blonde's voice in her mind: _"I'm sorry, Becca...shit! It's still so hard...just to think! In Silent Hill, things came...with the fog. Creatures. And Reeve brought...a lot of them here, too. We'll have a hard enough time just...just getting from one street to another."_

Rebecca Chambers frowned deeply as she understood. "You're talking about the creatures in the fog you and your dad had to fight..." She looked at Alex and Elle Shepherd with concern then. "...the monsters you both must have fought in Silent Hill, too?"

The young couple looked at each other with sudden horror. Alex breathed, "Oh, shit! We know what you mean, Rebecca."

Elle voice was thin with tension: "We'll have to be damn careful out there."

Cheryl drew on so much of her inner strength to speak again: "And...and people out there...will need our help...i-if we can help them. We huh-have to stay."

Rebecca nodded solemnly. From the very beginning, she and Cheryl wanted to stop The Order from hurting anyone else. "I hear you, honey." Rebecca rose to stand and turned to look at the Sheriff's Office truck. She mused, "I have no idea how helpful driving around can be with that fog..."

Elle said, "We can't drive that truck, anyway." Rebecca looked at Elle with surprise. "Seriously. The fog does something to cars and most anything with complex machinery or electrical systems. Back in Shepherd's Glen and Silent Hill, we could only travel by foot." Alex nodded with a dubious frown.

Rebecca suddenly asked, "Even telephones...?!" She quickly got her iPhone from a pouch of her belt...it said, OUT OF SERVICE.

Alex said, "Forget about land lines, too. There's no way to call anyone outside of town now."

Rebecca bit her lower lip to keep herself from cursing again. There were too damn many layers of bad to their situation. The pixie-like agent thought quickly of the young couple then. She said to Alex and Elle, "Just because we're staying doesn't mean you both have to. You've got to get to the edge of town somehow..."

"Th-that might not be a good idea!" Those fearful words came from Gwen. "Remember what Doctor Young said...he said those lunatics will have the strength to isolate Black Falls from the rest of the world? Am I wrong when I think that means strength in _numbers_, including people controlled by parasites?" Rebecca remembered too, and her dread compounded quickly. "And chances are they'll be armed! You might run into some kind of resistance that could keep you from escaping!" The mood from everyone chilled because there was too much logic in the Head Nurse's words.

Elle looked at Rebecca and said, "Then we're going to have to stay with you, Rebecca." She looked at Alex. "Darling?"

Alex's face took a firm set as he nodded. "I'll do whatever you feel is right, Elle. Besides, this is our fight, too."

Rebecca's eyes were full of worry for them both. "You two need to be sure about this. You _are_ pregnant, Elle - !"

Elle Shepherd was clearly full of fear for herself, her husband, and their unborn child. But there was a resolute bravery in her eyes as she said softly, "And that won't stop me from being a cop...if I can do anything to help you, to help anyone, I will."

Alex Shepherd drew close to his wife and took her hand. He gazed at Rebecca as he said, "We saw The Order kill Shepherd's Glen, just like they did to Silent Hill. I hate the idea of that happening to anyone else. You and Cheryl aren't gonna be alone."

Rebecca smiled at them both, but there was such a sadness in her eyes. She prayed their decision would have a happy end. "Thank you both...thank you." Rebecca turned to the Head Nurse and the candy striper. "Gwen...Bea...what do you want to do?"

Gwen Park looked at Bea fondly as she said, "Take Bea with you, Rebecca. I have to stay here."

Bea Montoya stared at her, stunned. "Wh-what?!"

Everyone else felt dubious about what Gwen wanted. Rebecca immediately said, "Gwen, you shouldn't stay here, either! Reeve and his followers - !"

Gwen quickly, gently interrupted: "Those lunatics will be so focused on you and Cheryl, most likely I won't matter to them. Besides, I have to stay."

Rebecca was about to protest...'most likely' wasn't good enough for her. "But - !"

Gwen Park's expression was stoic as she looked into Rebecca's eyes. "Make no mistake, I want to go with you! I have a husband out there I want to see again, you know?! I want him to know that I..." The Head Nurse stopped herself and looked down herself...one of her hands touched her slender belly, where her unborn child was slowly growing. "...that _we're_ okay." Gwen looked at Rebecca again. "But there are too many patients here who don't have the strength to help themselves, and I have a duty to care for them. God, I have no idea how they're doing right now with the state everything's in! I'll help the rest of the staff secure this hospital the best we can too, keep whatever you say is in the fog from getting in." Rebecca's eyes were solemn as she understood and nodded...she couldn't argue with Gwen's logic, and she knew she couldn't change the lady's mind.

But Bea Montoya's wide eyes were scared for the lady in white. "G-Gwen..."

Gwen gently held Bea's slender shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Listen to me, Bea. You're a volunteer here, remember? _You don't have to be here!_ And you have a family waiting to see you again." Gwen smiled softly and said, "I'll be all right." Bea could only look down, overwhelmed with emotion. Gwen looked at Rebecca, and she was close to tears as she offered, "You might not want to keep Cheryl in that wheelchair. It'll make too much noise!"

Rebecca nodded sadly, but before she could say anything to the brave Head Nurse, Alex quickly stepped up to Rebecca. He quietly offered, "I'll carry Cheryl, if that's all right? You and my wife are the only ones with guns right now, anyway."

"Thanks, Alex," Rebecca said with feeling. She looked back at Gwen, and the agent was resolute as she said, "We will come back for you somehow, Gwen! And remember I have friends on their way to help, too!"

Gwen Park nodded gratefully. "I'll remember! Just take care of Bea, okay?"

"We will!" Rebecca looked at Cheryl affectionately and asked, "Are you ready to go, Cheryl?"

Cheryl Mason managed to form a smile and said, "Just as long as...I'm going with you."

Rebecca Chambers nodded...she looked at Alex Shepherd, who easily yet carefully lifted the lovely blonde from the wheelchair and cradled her in his arms. Alex said, "I'm ready whenever you are, Rebecca. Elle?"

Elle Shepherd nodded, but she still felt awkward just wearing a tank top and panties...it was all she wore when she and Alex were kidnapped by The Order and brought to Black Falls. Alex was more fortunate to have had on a t-shirt and jeans. As she held Rebecca's Beretta at the ready, Elle said, "I'm ready...um, sort of! We'll need to stick very close together." She thought, _Clothes would be nice, too!_

Alex nodded. "Yeah. If we're not careful, we could lose each other in the fog! Where should we go first?"

Elle, in spite of her need to regain her modesty, kept it coolly practical: "Rebecca, I suggest we go to this town's police department or its gun store, whichever's closest. We'll need more guns, ammunition and other provisions."

Pure business, Rebecca nodded deeply. "I agree. The Sheriff's Office is maybe three or four blocks north of us, across from the city hall..." Then she thought of something and smiled as she finished, "...and I _do_ have the keys to get in." The keys she 'borrowed' from Sheriff Gulager along with his truck; she thought it would be a good idea to keep the big ring of keys in her backpack.

Alex said, "Then let's do it!"

Bea Montoya, who hadn't made her voice heard before, suddenly blurted, "Wait!" The pretty candy striper slowly moved toward the Head Nurse as she said, "I-I want to stay with you, Gwen."

Gwen frowned and began, "Bea - !"

But the teenaged, raven-haired girl desperately reached out and took Gwen's hands. Bea almost cried, "Please don't tell me to go again, _please!_ I do want to be with my family again...I-I want to know my boyfriend's okay...but I can't just walk away from you, Gwen! I want to stay with you!"

Gwen's exotic face softened. "Bea..."

Bea's wide, needful eyes looked into hers. "Please don't say no, Gwen! I-I've got to confess, I'm so scared of going outside...but more importantly, I don't want to abandon _you!_" The Head Nurse looked at the teen with surprise. Bea began to cry as her lips trembled... "I've never been able to thank you enough for...for everything you taught me, Gwen. I told you before I want to be like you, I-I want to help people. It's what I want when I g-get out of school, to become a nurse!" She squeezed Gwen's hands as she looked down and shook her head as she wept. "If I...if I'm gonna turn away from all of that, i-if I'm going to abandon you just because things are rough...what'll that mean?" The girl looked up into Gwen's eyes again and said softly, "Please tell me you understand...please...?"

Tears fell from Gwen Park's eyes as she looked back at Bea, but she smiled with warm, elemental affection. One of her hands lifted to tenderly wipe one of the teen's cheeks as she said, "I understand better than you know, dear girl." The Head Nurse then embraced the candy striper as the others watched silently. Gwen's voice was soft when she said to the girl she held, "But we're going to have a lot of work to do. You sure you're ready?"

Bea Montoya felt warm in Gwen's arms and couldn't help but hold the older woman in return...she said, "N-no...but I can't let that stop me now..."

The Head Nurse smiled sadly. "Yeah." The lobby fell quiet for another moment as they held each other, and Rebecca, Cheryl and the others couldn't help but admire Gwen and Bea. Even though they didn't have guns, in spite of the fog that darkened all, their bravery shone brightly.

Rebecca took a step toward them. She said, "Bea?" The teen looked at her. The petite agent said, "You said you had a boyfriend, right? What's his name? Did he give you that anklet?" Rebecca pointed down at one of Bea's ankles, where the gold anklet with a matching heart charm gleamed in the flickering light.

Bea smiled a bit more. "Y-yeah. His name's Billy."

Rebecca nodded. "If we see him, we'll let him know where you are. We'll do the same if we see any of your family, okay?"

Bea Montoya sniffed and nodded as she held Gwen. "Thank you!"

The agent asked the Head Nurse, "What about your husband, Gwen?"

"Chan?" Gwen looked at Rebecca gratefully...her voice was thick with need. "With the situation outside, I couldn't even guess where he is now. We agreed a long time ago that if an emergency happened when we were apart, he'd come meet me here. Still, if you see him...?"

"We'll let him know you're all right, Gwen," Rebecca promised. "I swear."

"Thank you...thank you all." Gwen Park looked at the others as she held Bea Montoya, and she gave them a reassuring smile. "Y-you'd better go while you can. All of you take care!"

Rebecca spoke for the others after she nodded deeply. "You and Bea do the same, Gwen...you will see us again! I promise!" She turned to Elle, Alex, and Cheryl, who was in his arms. "You guys ready?"

The couple nodded...Cheryl Mason smiled warmly in response and managed, "Whenever...you are...Becca..." She said to the brunette by thought, _"I'll do my best to...give us warning if...we're going to...to run into any enemies out there. Okay?"_

Rebecca Chambers nodded, grateful. For Cheryl's sake, she gathered her inner strength. "Like Elle said, we stick together, and we keep each other in sight!" Alex and Elle nodded. "Let's go!"

The group of four exited through one of the manual doors of the lobby entrance, and they stepped into the fog.  
**  
-2-  
**  
It was only possible to see three or four yards in any direction before all faded to gray. As she led the others, Rebecca Chambers felt some comfort knowing that the soldiers of The Order and...anything else out here would have had as much difficulty because of the reduced visibility. She hoped.

One thing immediately obvious about the fog that blanketed Black Falls was this...there was a cold that came with the oppressive feeling of wrongness within it. It felt almost twenty degrees colder in the thick, smoky mist. However. Even though the drop in temperature wasn't harsh, Rebecca and the others saw _snow_ fall around them in the misty gray as they moved very slowly, keeping on the west sidewalk of Kubrick Street, on the same side of the town's main drag as the Sheriff's Office. They couldn't see much, except for the different storefronts they passed on their left that looked aged and abandoned, if not damaged by the recent chaos. Calamity was still happening across town...they could hear horrible things from both near and far. Repeated gunshots and thudding explosions. Screaming. And there were other sounds. They were _almost_ like animals, but they were unearthly and alien, and thankfully those particular kinds of sounds were heard from a distance...for the time being. They even heard the crackle of fires, but the cold and the obscuring fog wouldn't give them a sense of exactly where those fires were happening. Rebecca felt such sadness for Black Falls and its people. It had been a truly beautiful place, and she could only imagine how terribly it was being damaged. She was afraid to think of how many people were dying.

On their right, in the street, they saw a nearly-ghostly image of the cars at a standstill on the street going south. They had to have been abandoned when The Order began their lockdown. It wasn't possible to tell how damaged any of the now-useless vehicles were. At one point almost halfway to their destination, Rebecca and the others were surprised when a haggard young man covered in blood burst past them from behind at a full-tilt run. They barely had warning because they heard his rapid footfalls approaching from behind. They watched as the man disappeared like a wraith back into the fog. It was the only encounter of any kind with anyone or anything they had on their way to the Sheriff's Office, and it felt like a bleak omen.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they were in front of the wood double-doors of the modest brick building that was the Black Falls Sheriff's Office. Elle said quietly, "This is it? It doesn't look like much." Elle had to remind herself she and Alex came from a much larger town - Brahms, Maine, which had over twice the population of Black Falls, and so the police department she was a part of was much bigger and had a budget for better facilities.

Alex said it best. "Hey, this is a small town, right? It's the kind of place..." He felt a sudden burst of awkward sadness as he finished, "...where nothing happens."

Rebecca nodded, her expression downcast...that couldn't be said anymore about Black Falls, could it? "Yeah." She refocused again as she lowered to one knee, put down her SMG, and took off her backpack to access it. In a moment, she got Sheriff Gulager's key ring. She looked at the locks on the doors and then at the key ring, and thankfully it only took a couple of minutes to find a key that slid comfortably into the lock. Rebecca turned the key and felt the door unlock. "Okay, we have a winner...!"

Rebecca suddenly felt Cheryl speak into her mind: _"Becca, wait!"_ The pixie quickly turned to the blonde, forgetting the doors instantly. Cheryl then thought to her, _"There...there's someone inside."_

Elle couldn't help but see the sudden fear in Rebecca's eyes as she stared at Cheryl. Elle asked tentatively, "Rebecca...?"

Rebecca looked at both Elle and Alex. "Cheryl can sense that someone's in there."

Alex looked down at the girl he cradled in his arms awkwardly. "Uh, I didn't hear her say anything...?"

Rebecca matter-of-factly informed him, "Cheryl can speak with her thoughts, too."

Alex looked at Elle. "O-kay. Considering everything else we've seen, that doesn't sound strange."

Elle nodded. They had both been part of things a LOT stranger. Elle asked, "Can Cheryl tell if it's an enemy?"

Rebecca thought of only one person to really worry about who might be in the Sheriff's Office. "Cheryl, is it Gulager?"

Alex and Elle asked in virtual unison, _"Who?"_

Cheryl said into the pixie's mind, _"No. She's okay, but she's alone...and she's really scared, Becca. We need to help her."_  
**  
-3-  
**  
The jail of the Sheriff's Office, close to the back of the first floor. There were five cells on each side of a secure, narrow corridor. Each cell was small in size, meant to hold one occupant. Again, Black Falls was a place where nothing happened...once upon a time.

At that moment there was only one person in the jail, locked behind the iron bars of the last cell on the right. It had only been about an hour ago she'd been arrested by one of Sheriff James Gulager's deputies for driving her dirt bike on the sidewalk. Gulager himself decided that she'd spend a couple of hours in jail as a warning before she was released to be back on her way to Boston, Massachusetts for a big motocross event. In the time since her arrest so much had changed, and she felt a persistent terror clutch her heart that made her tremble, body and soul, as she paced around the inside of her cell like a person about to be executed. The girl was only 19 years old and had long blonde hair done up in a ponytail that reached down past her shoulders...her eyes were a bright ocean blue that complimented her pale skin. Her beautiful features were soft with youth, but she didn't like makeup; she never felt the need to pretty herself up. Her lean yet curvaceous body was sheathed in a red and white motocross jumpsuit with blue and black stylings and script. After everything she heard outside, the terrible chaos that the brick walls of the Sheriff's Office couldn't shut out, she wondered if she'd ever see Boston, or even her family in northern Vermont ever again.

The girl had always worried her parents because of her love for motocross, a love she had held in her heart since she entered her teens. Something about the sport just drew her to it, something that made her save her money and buy her first dirt bike just after she was old enough to drive. The girl tried to tell her parents again and again that she wasn't reckless, and she definitely wasn't like one of those clueless thrillseekers who could be seen on YouTube videos failing in bone-breaking ways because they didn't prepare or even think before trying something. Eventually, her mom and dad figured out that they did indeed raise their only daughter right: when it came to motocross or doing anything on a motorcycle, the spirited yet thoughtful blonde girl was level-headed, responsible, and took every possible precaution to keep from getting hurt. If she had any kind of character flaw, it was an impatience that defined many teens. She wanted to make her mark in the male-dominated world of motocross, and she wanted to do it yesterday.

She let her youthful impatience get the best of her once during a race: she gunned her engine at the wrong time, and she and her bike damned near flew into the air for a heart-stopping moment before she landed hard on the dirt again. The landing was too hard, unfortunately, and she lost control and spilled. Thankfully she wasn't seriously hurt, but she had to spend over a thousand dollars to repair her bike. She felt like she let down not only her parents after she promised again and again she'd be careful, she failed herself...and those things hurt more than damaging her bike and losing the race. The girl swore she'd never let herself be a failure again, and she put even more care and caution into her preparations. Over the past year alone, she had seen steady improvement in her efforts...she won more races than she lost across the region. Then she heard about the big event in Boston, a national event that offered huge exposure - hell, it was going to be televised live on ESPN2 - and she felt confident she was ready. As she began her journey to Boston earlier that Friday, it wasn't like she had visions of becoming the first lady of motocross, but she had high hopes, and very possibly the skill to make those hopes a reality.

But the road she began to travel to Boston led here, to getting busted for being impatient again...and she found herself in a situation far, far worse than simply crashing and losing a race. The girl was completely, horribly alone as something she dreaded to even imagine was happening outside, something that began just after she watched her own cell and all of her surroundings change to become something much older, darker and threatening. It felt like she was in a dungeon instead of a jail now. She was on the verge of crying as she trembled, as she paced fearfully in her claustrophobic cell. The girl had the frightening feeling that whatever was responsible for the chaos outside wouldn't stay out there...that it might come into the Sheriff's Office and find her in her cell, a prisoner trapped and helpless.

The girl's heart almost stopped when she thought she heard a key turn a heavy lock in the distance to her left, from the entrance down the corridor. She wanted to hope she'd just imagined things - no. She heard the security door open with a metallic creak. The trembling girl didn't feel tears spill down her own cheeks as she heard soft footsteps on the concrete floor. Her breaths came faster as she took a couple of steps back, almost coming into contact with her cell's cot. She lifted her hands and clutched them together before her bosom as she prayed, as she softly moaned, "Oh god, please..."

And a slender, pretty lady who didn't look much older than she did appeared before her under the flickering lights and looked into her cell with eyes a lighter, gentler shade of blue. Her black hair was short and stylish, and she wore a distinctive crimson top and matching long gloves, shiny black pants and shoes. She wore a backpack and what seemed to be a gun belt, and she had a big gun slung behind one of her shoulders. For a moment, the blonde thought she was seeing things. But the brunette pixie was real and her expression was gentle as she smiled at the prisoner. "Hi. It's all right. I promise that I'm here to help you. I'm a federal agent."

The girl in red and white looked at the visitor and blinked...unsure, she said, "R-really? You look like you're about to go clubbing or something...e-except for that big gun you're carrying!"

"I like to dress casual. I see you like motocross."

Something about the pixie made the blonde girl relax...somehow, she felt by instinct the brunette was a friend. She still frowned a little as she said in a guarded tone, "I...I'm not a pro or anything yet. I-I hope I get the chance to be one day."

The brunette nodded and introduced herself. "I'm Rebecca Chambers. Who are you?"

The blonde had to decide then: could she trust this stranger? Somehow, deep in her heart, she felt like she could. She took a leap of faith and told Rebecca her name: "E-Elza...Elza Walker."

Rebecca smiled brighter. "It's nice to meet you, Elza." She then displayed the key ring she held in one gloved hand. "Want me to get you out of there?"

Elza Walker quickly stepped forward and she clutched at the bars of her cell's door with both hands...she almost cried, "Oh _god_, yes! Please!" However, the blonde saw that the brunette didn't know which key would unlock her cell at first. As she began to experiment with different keys, Elza asked fearfully, "Rebecca, what's going on outside?! I-it's been sounding like the end of the world out there!"

Rebecca recalled what those monsters in The Order wanted, the rebirth of their God and making Earth into a Paradise, which would have literally meant this world's end. She thought, _I hope you're wrong, Elza._ Rebecca said, "There are bad things going on, but my main concern at the moment is you. Do you live here?"

Elza shook her head. "No, I-I was just passing through. I was on my way to this big event in Boston."

Rebecca gave the blonde a quick glance as she continued trying to find the key for the cell. "How did you get in jail?"

"I got caught doing something pretty dumb. I-I wasn't being some kind of criminal or anything, honest!"

"I believe you, Elza. I'm afraid you're not going to see Boston anytime soon, though."

Elza frowned and nodded shakily. "Yeah, I got that feeling when I heard crap outside that sounded like a cross between _Scream_ and _Battle Los Angeles_. Lots of gunshots, explosions...weird noises...s-screaming..."

Rebecca breathed, "Okay!" Just like that, a key slid into the lock of the cell door, and she unlocked it. The brunette opened it, much to Elza's relief, but Rebecca's serious expression sobered the blonde quickly. The agent told her, "This town has been taken over by a cult, Elza. They won't let anyone enter this town, and they won't let any of us leave."

Elza's pretty face reflected pure dismay...she haltingly took a step back and almost moaned, "Uh, maybe it'd be a better idea if I stayed here...?"

The brunette gently shook her head. "Staying in one place is the last thing you should do." Rebecca was struck by how young the blonde was, as young as she had been when she first joined S.T.A.R.S at the age of 18, when she had no idea what she was getting into. The brunette saw the fear in the blonde's eyes, and she remembered her own fear as she desperately avoided the nightmare creatures in the forests at the foot of the Arklay Mountains...as she sought to help Chris and Jill in that mansion...as Hell came to Raccoon City...

And didn't that same fear make Rebecca decide what she should do afterward...and that decision was the greatest mistake she ever made because it led to tragedy and a terrible regret that would always be a part of her. It was something she couldn't share with Cheryl, and the brunette wanted to share _everything_ with that amazing, freckle-faced beauty. But no. Not this. Rebecca feared so much what Cheryl would think of her if she knew...

It took a lot of inner strength for Rebecca to stop thinking about that and focus on Elza, and she did. The pixie's voice was soothing as she spoke to the girl with the ponytail: "I can imagine how scared you are right now...I am, too. But I learned a long time ago that fear never, _ever_ solves anything when the worst things happen. It can...i-it can only make you do the wrong thing." There was a haunted quality in Rebecca's eyes... "I need to ask for something important from you, Elza."

Elza frowned softly... "What do you want, Rebecca?"

Rebecca carefully took a step into the cell, closer to Elza. "I need to ask you to come with me. I'm not here by myself, and I promise we'll help you in any way we can. But we're going to need _you_, too. We need to work together and help each other through if we're going to survive. Okay?"

The blonde girl in red and white still trembled...but her fear visibly began to ease very slowly. Her breaths calmed as she carefully nodded and said, "O-okay." Elza Walker stepped forward and suddenly hugged Rebecca. She said softly, "Thank you...thank you, _thank you_. I...I-I didn't want to be alone anymore..." Her arms clutched the brunette with pure and total need as she began to cry with gratitude and relief.

Rebecca Chambers gladly, gently held Elza...one of her hands softly rubbed the blonde girl's back, comforting her. "I know, Elza...I know exactly how you feel. It's all right...shhh, it's all right. You're not alone anymore."  
**  
-4-  
**  
In the main office and reception area of the Sheriff's Office, Cheryl was lying on a couch as Alex watched over her from only a few feet away. He heard his wife say, "Well, half a loaf is better than nothing, as they say!" He looked in her direction and saw Elle had taken a light jacket off of a coat rack in a corner and put it on. The lady frowned a little in reaction because it felt a little stiff; there was a musty film to the surface of the fabric, too. Like it hadn't been worn for a long time. It also proved to be a little small, even for Elle's lithe form. She decided to keep it anyway, and put the Beretta Rebecca lent her in an inside pocket, where the gun fit snugly. The lower half of her body still displayed itself provocatively - especially her lovely behind - since she only wore panties besides her tank top. Elle sighed, "I'm still feeling a little exposed, though." No wonder.

Alex gazed at her and responded, but not quite in the way his wife expected: "Elle...would you hold it against me if I told you that you look seriously hot?"

Elle looked at him and smiled as she blushed a little, honestly flattered...but it wasn't hard to remember where they were and what they were facing at the moment. She said, "Alex, there's a time and a place, you know?"

Alex drifted over to her... "Yeah, and you're about to make me stand at attention, if you know what I mean." Cheryl watched what was happening as a warm, amused smile slowly formed on her full lips.

Elle's lips curled wickedly as she gave her approaching husband a devilish smirk...and she couldn't help but feel a building heat in her, as well. "I guess the next thing you'll say is you only want to see me in this jacket and nothing else."

Alex was completely fixed on her as he smiled back with loving affection...as his arms reached under either side of her jacket to take hold of her slender body. "You guess right, beautiful."

Elle's arms eagerly wrapped around him in response. Cheryl watched, and she was truly happy for the young couple, that their love and passion burned so brightly between them. She hoped it would never, ever dim in even the slightest measure. Cheryl then thought of Rebecca...and she wondered... As their faces were bare inches apart, Elle set aside where they were and what they were facing. In spite of the crisis, in spite of the darksome environs of the office, there was untold value in quiet moments like these as they both felt the love they were fated to know even when they were kids. Elle purred softly, "Strange time to finally find out about a 'thing' you have, dear..."

Alex's need for his wife was becoming overwhelming. "The only 'thing' I've ever had is for _you_, Elle." Their faces began to drift closer as the husband and wife held each other...they had almost forgotten Cheryl was there as they were about to kiss -

"God, you two _seriously_ need to rent a room!" Both Alex and Elle suddenly snapped out of it and turned to the source of the voice...a girl with her blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing what looked like a racing jumpsuit. The girl's arms were crossed and she had an amused smile on her face. Rebecca was standing next to her, covering her grinning lips with one hand and trying like blazes not to laugh.

Rebecca then heard Cheryl speak to her by thought: _"You and Miss Motocross...could've waited...a while longer, Becca!"_

Rebecca quickly thought back, _"Behave, honey!"_ She regained her composure and focused on the suddenly-awkward couple; she gestured to the ponytailed girl and made introductions: "Um guys, this is Elza. Elza, that's Elle...Alex..." Rebecca's expression shifted to become much more gentle as she gestured to the young woman lying on the couch. "...and this is Cheryl."

Elza's eyes were full of concern as she looked at Cheryl. She asked, "I-is she okay?"

Rebecca promised, "She will be." The pixie drew close to Cheryl then and she said, "You, Alex and Elle know what we're dealing with better than I do, honey. Will we need anything besides guns and food?"

Cheryl managed, "Food...won't mean much...Becca."

Elza frowned. "Why? Does the food suck in this town?"

Alex and Elle knew what Cheryl meant from their own experiences. Alex said, "It's not easy to explain. Food is...different because of the fog, too."

Elza blinked. "Wait, what fog? It's a clear and sunny day outside, the last I saw!" And she'd only been in jail an hour...!

Rebecca told her, "A lot more has changed than you think, Elza. You'll see." She looked at Cheryl. "At least most lights are on...well, kinda. But would anything else work?!"

Elle said, "Flashlights will! And we'll need them if the darkness comes."

Elza couldn't help but ask, "You mean later tonight, after the sun goes down...?"

The brunette agent shook her head. "No, Elza. I...I-I know something about the darkness you mean, Elle...because of Cheryl. Let's pray to god that doesn't happen."

Cheryl said then, "We need...radios."

Alex looked at Cheryl and nodded with enthusiasm. "She's right about that! We'll need at least one radio to carry around."

"Really?" Rebecca turned and looked around her at some of the vacant desks of the deputies who worked here. "Oh!" She took a few steps to one desk in particular and picked up a small portable radio small enough to carry in one's back pocket. "Bingo!" Rebecca smiled as she turned it on...but her smile fell fast as she heard static. Her mood didn't improve when she tried going up and down the dial for a moment, and there was still nothing but that annoying noise. "Aw, this won't help...!" She was about to turn it off and put it back where she found it -

"No!" This came from Cheryl, who said, "It will help, Becca. It reacts when...bad things are near." Alex and Elle knew exactly what the blonde meant...their expressions became grim as they nodded in agreement.

Rebecca looked as confused as Elza then. "'Reacts'...? I don't understand...!"

It was like fate decided to take a moment to enlighten the brunette: as she held the radio, Rebecca and the others heard the static of the radio shift. It made the brunette fall quiet and think maybe a station was trying to come through from somewhere. No. The static was slowly, ominously building in intensity. Rebecca looked reflexively at the others. Alex was staring at the radio with wide, worried eyes...so was Elle, who was incredibly tense as she slowly took the Beretta from her jacket. Rebecca heard Cheryl say in her mind, _"Becca...get ready...right now."_ And the pixie understood as she readied her SMG that the radio was acting like a geiger counter, a device that got louder and more urgent the closer it got to a source of radiation. But in this case the radio was responding to something, something that wasn't just nearby it was approaching - !

The double-doors to the Sheriff's Office were smashed inward, broken to pieces by what appeared to be a giant, bulbous appendage of flesh that swung into them. The others stared for a moment, their eyes wide with shock as they saw what the big limb was attached to. It had to stoop as it entered, it was so big. Cheryl Mason recognized it instantly...she remembered killing something exactly like it in a shopping mall on the day her father died.

The Closer was a profane, strangely feminine creature that was misbegotten and almost impossibly distorted in its dimensions. Perhaps eight feet tall, covered in gore and grime, it looked like it had been...cobbled together from different creatures that had no relation to each other, and parts of it were bandaged; the thing's movements were unsure and clumsy, like it just began to learn how to move. Its thin legs would never have held the Closer up by themselves, but it used its massive, clublike arms to help it lumber forth like a gorilla. It was topped with a bullet-shaped head that had no ears, eyes or nose, but its flat face had a single massive mouth that turned in one direction and another with a frenzied pace. It issued groans from its rotating slit of a mouth and its head turned from left to right with frantic speed as it sought out a target.

Elza Walker screamed, long and loud, and that was more than enough to galvanize Rebecca Chambers and Elle Shepherd...both of the young women were armed, and immediately took action. Rebecca fired on the Closer with her suppressed MP5 on full automatic as Elle fired on it again and again with the Beretta in her hands. Cheryl Mason, Alex Shepherd and Elza could only watch as the thing trembled from being hit by so many rounds in the space of a handful of seconds, as chunks of its misbegotten flesh were blasted from the exit wounds of the bullets Rebecca and Elle fired into it...and it pitched forward to crash to the floor at the same moment they ran out of bullets. Cheryl was reminded of how thankfully weak such a creature was - she'd killed her first with several rounds from the handgun she had found. The Closer writhed and issued disquieting moans for a moment before it went still.

Rebecca instantly moved to Cheryl and knelt next to her and took one of the blonde's hands in one of hers. Not because Cheryl had been hurt, but because the agent needed to be near her. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. This was the first time Rebecca had seen such a monster, and being near to the one she adored was comforting. Alex and Elle couldn't help but gravitate to each other needfully, too.

Elza, however, took a few steps toward the hellish yet dead thing as her wide eyes stared at it. She finally said with a trembling voice, "Holy shit!" Then Elza began to scream, "HOLY _SHIT!_ WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?! OH, MY GOD!" The girl looked at the others helplessly, desperate to understand, but she only received fearful looks in return.

Rebecca frowned as she knelt next to Cheryl and she said, "We can't stay here! We need to find whatever we can and _go!_"  
**  
-5-  
**  
The group moved quickly to get what they needed as Alex carried Cheryl; Rebecca absolutely did NOT want the one she adored to be left alone in her helpless condition, even for a moment. Elle had to scavenge the locker room to find a pair of pants, but they were too big...it seemed only men had been employed by Sheriff Gulager. Fortunately, a belt she found quickly helped the pants fit. She and Alex also found shoes, and he got another light jacket for himself. Again, the clothes had a queer quality to them, like they hadn't been worn for years, but that didn't mean they weren't unwearable. Elle had no problem wearing her tank top under her jacket.

The group then focused on the weapons room of the Sheriff's Office. On one side of the room were two big racks of rifles, carbines and shotguns; on the other side was where handguns were secured. There were many drawers full of a surplus of bullets and shells for the Sheriff and deputies to draw upon. Everything had a visible layer of dust, but the weapons still looked functional. Rebecca took it upon herself to be the dealer of what each person wanted to carry. She said to Cheryl, "I've got your Peacemaker and ammo with me, Cheryl. Did you want another gun?"

Cheryl sat limply in a chair close by, and Elle was standing close by her, just in case. The freckle-faced beauty frowned as she decided. "Something...simple," she managed to say. Her half-open eyes fixed on a weapon on one of the racks. "I'll take...one of those shotguns behind you..."

Rebecca looked behind her at a rack and saw what Cheryl meant...she nodded and said, "You got it!" She took from the rack a deadly-black Remington 870 12-gauge, complete with a shoulder strap. From there the agent focused on Elle, who wanted an AR-15 carbine and a Glock-19 9mm pistol...Rebecca got her Beretta back accordingly.

When the pixie got to Alex, she asked, "What kind of gun do you want, Alex?"

He shrugged at first. "Well, I've gotten into hunting since Elle and I got married. To provide something for the table some times of the year, you know?"

"Uh-huh?"

Alex scanned the racks... "I own a bolt-action just like that one..." He pointed at a Remington 700 hunting rifle. "I'll take that!" Rebecca quickly obliged. He also wanted a handgun, and the agent gave him another Glock. Alex looked at it as he held it and mused, "It's not much different from what I had to use long ago...I still remember how..." Alex also remembered he temporarily suffered the delusion of believing he'd been a soldier fighting overseas, when in fact he was in a mental hospital before he escaped it. It was a brutal irony that when he returned to Shepherd's Glen, he had to fight an eerie personal war against The Order and other, unspeakable things for the sake of both his and Elle's survival. Alex's expression was bittersweet...his beautiful wife took his hand gently as they both remembered.

Rebecca looked at Elza then. "Okay, what would you like?"

Elza seemed surprised by her question. "What?" Then the girl realized what Rebecca was asking...she gave the brunette an incredulous look. "Oh, come _on!_ Do I look like I know anything about guns? I know _motorcycles!_ The closest I've ever been to guns has been watching movies like _Rambo_!"

Rebecca suddenly felt a little dumb. "Oh! Well...you'll still need to defend yourself against things like the creature that attacked us."

Elza's eyes widened. "There's more ugly bastards like that out there?!"

Alex answered, "A lot more."

Elza groaned, "Oh, shit! Uh...so what's best for a stone cold noob like me?"

Elle quickly said, "Rebecca, give me another shotgun like Cheryl's!" The agent did so, and Elle held a second Remington 12-gauge to display it for Elza. "If you want something to defend yourself, you can't go wrong with a shotgun."

The sight of the shotgun intimidated the heck out of Elza, but she felt confident. Sort of. "Um, okay!"

Elle told the girl, "It'll take down anything threatening you, and it's as basic as you can get. I swear it's easier to use than...well, riding a bike. I'll teach you how, but we don't have the time now."

"No, we don't," Rebecca agreed. "If we don't want another monster or any of The Order to come looking for us, we need to get out of here soon."

They finished quickly yet carefully to collect as much ammo as they could carry, including things from bandoliers for holding shotgun shells to gun holsters and cleaning kits. They scavenged as much as they could from other parts of the Sheriff's Office, necessities like more flashlights, a couple of spare radios, batteries, and other things. A couple of duffel bags were found that held most of the provisions. As much as they wanted to collect food, which was found only in the building's vending machines, it all looked so grimy and old they quickly decided against it. Elza suddenly had the fear in her gut that they might die of thirst or starvation while trying to survive whatever-the-hell, but kept it to herself.

On the first floor reception desk, Rebecca spied a stack of four-folded maps for Black Falls...it was for the heart of town, where the local businesses were concentrated, but it was more than enough. After opening one up, they looked for a place where it would be least likely The Order would be. They agreed on moving from the Sheriff's Office to a laundromat two blocks west where they could take the time to rest, clean their guns, and really prepare for a fight. Rebecca then wondered with some anxiety how to leave a note or something for anyone who might come for them - hopefully, Chris, Jill and others in the BSAA - without it being found by The Order first. Cheryl said to her by thought, _"When I get my strength back...I might be able to...get a message to them. Help them find us."_ Rebecca didn't doubt that.

By the time they got back to the blasted entrance, where the hideous Closer still laid not far away, the dense fog outside had begun creeping in. They all had a lot to carry, and they hoped they were ready. Rebecca looked at Alex and asked, "You'll still be okay carrying Cheryl?"

Alex smiled confidently and nodded. "Oh, yeah. The girl's light as a feather."

The pixie's expression softened as she focused on the one she adored. "Are _you_ okay, Cheryl?"

Cheryl half-whispered, "Don't worry so much...about me, Becca."

Rebecca ignored that...she took one Cheryl's limp hands in hers and gently squeezed it. "We're going to make this right. We really will."

Cheryl managed to say regretfully, "I just...I-I hate feeling so...damned useless..."

Rebecca drew closer to Cheryl and softly kissed her forehead. "_You are not useless_, honey. You just need time to get your strength back, and you will. You hear me?" She squeezed the blonde's hand, reassuring.

Cheryl Mason managed to smile. "Thank you."

Elle Shepherd considered the radio she held in one slender hand as she listened to it. "Doesn't sound like anything's close by. We should be okay." Rebecca nodded...

...but Elza couldn't help but look into the fog anxiously. It was all so unreal, and she wondered if understanding what was going on would help in any way. Still, she asked, "Uh, what exactly are we going to do? You said before we can't get out of town. Where _can_ we go?"

Rebecca answered, "We'll find out when we get there." She also stared into the fog... "The important thing is we move and keep moving...we don't stay in one place too long...and we protect Cheryl. The Order will be desperate to get her back. They need Cheryl to be their Mother of God, and she's the one who has the power to stop them and change things back to normal."

The ponytailed girl had to giggle nervously. "Uhm, half of what you said just flew over my head, y'know that?" But...Elza Walker drew upon her inner strength, and her eyes became serious. "I do understand it's like you said, Rebecca. We need to help each other."

Rebecca added solemnly, "We also look for anyone who needs help. We do what we can for them."

As he cradled the one person who might be able to save the world from what The Order set in motion this day, Alex Shepherd smiled and asked, "So what are we waiting for, Christmas?"

The brunette pixie smiled back...but then she turned to the fog, and her eyes became full of steel. Whether they were ready or not, they had to go. They had to end this. Rebecca Chambers only thought of Cheryl and said quietly, "Let's get out of here."

They moved into the fog...and in seconds, they disappeared...  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 is here...unfortunately, we must shift our focus from Cheryl, Rebecca and the others as they step into the fog of Black Falls to other characters who will have an important role in events to come. You've already seen some of them introduced to the story already, but starting here they're going to get involved! And yes, two of them are the recently reunited Claire Redfield and Sherry Birkin!**

**But could romance bloom between two more characters of our story, not just Rebecca and Cheryl? Read and find out!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**Chapter 12:**

**"CONVERGING ELEMENTS"**

**-1-**

**Burlington, Vermont**

**The news that swept across the United States and then the planet like a wildfire about Black Falls, Vermont had to begin with a figurative match. **That match was first lit in Burlington, the state's largest city, only about 25 miles to the northwest. On one local television news program, which was minutes away from wrapping up it's five o'clock broadcast, the sports announcer was almost done with his segment when the anchorwoman interrupted. The pretty brunette behind the main desk suddenly said, "J-Jerry? I'm sorry, I'm being told by the producer...okay, I'm being given some breaking news. Just a moment..." She'd been given a handful of pages by an intern, and she quickly referred to them:

"Um, this just in, ladies and gentlemen. As I speak, there appears to be some kind of pitched gun battle happening in the town of Black Falls involving the State Police and local authorites and an unknown armed force...at the same time, a freak weather event has happened and the town is covered by a thick gray fog." She looked off-camera at her producer with irritation. "Seriously, is this some kind of joke? Both of those things happening _at the same time?_ The last I heard, they were having their County Fair for the holiday weekend - !" She looked back at her papers and a frown formed upon her lips as she spoke. "I mean, this can't be right, can it...? No. No, according to the information we're receiving, it's confirmed that all available personnel in the State Police is being deployed to Black Falls in response. It's unknown how many people are dead, but the number is believed to be in...ah, in the hundreds already. My god, at the County Fair...?" She took a deep, shaky breath to compose herself and continued, trying to keep herself professional. "Witnesses who escaped the fog reported that men, women and children have been shot and killed, and others have been attacked by...we still have to confirm this, but there have also been reports that people were being attacked and _eaten_ by some kind of strange animals. Sources also report that the State Board of Health is responding and the General Assembly is gathering to meet in an emergency session in Montpelier, possibly to ask the governor to request federal assistance as soon as possible. That aid might include whatever military support is deemed necessary..."  
**  
-2-**

**Washington, D.C.**

It took some maniac driving on the part of the convoy of Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance vehicles to get through Washington, D.C.'s infamous traffic and reach Bolling Air Force Base in record time. Unfortunately, when the large team of heavily armed men and women led by Captain Chris Redfield and Lieutenant Jill Valentine reached their C-130 transport to fly to Black Falls, they were given the news that they couldn't take off. The BSAA was on temporary standby on the order of the President himself. Before he had the chance to protest that, Chris got a call on his smart phone. He answered it and saw Leon S. Kennedy's face as he said, "Chris, it's Leon."

Chris Redfield looked angrily at Leon's image and almost shouted, "Leon! Our flight to Black Falls just got stalled by Presidential order! What the _hell_ is going on?!" Jill Valentine, who was desperate to reach Black Falls and find Rebecca Chambers, was also visibly, dangerously angry as she drew close to Chris to listen in.

Leon said with quiet tension, "Black Falls just disappeared in a fog about 20 minutes ago, Chris. Do you know what that means?"

Chris' eyes widened with shock...so did Jill's. It was just like Rebecca feared. The history of Silent Hill _was_ repeating itself. Chris said in a bleak tone, "It means we're already too late."

Stoic, Leon said emphatically, "No, Chris! As long as there's hope, it's never too late. And your flight's only been delayed, because you're going to need support."

Chris asked, "What kind of support? From who?"  
**  
-3-  
**  
Leon S. Kennedy answered, "I'm about to find out. Hold on." He put Chris on hold and pocketed his phone as he stood next to fellow Division of Security Operations agent Helena Harper in the Oval Office of the White House. There were over two-dozen officials and advisors there as well to assist their leader in this moment of crisis. But it was Leon and Helena who stood in front of the big desk and had the attention of the Chief Executive before anyone else. Leon asked quietly, "Mister President?"

The President of the United States, a soft-spoken yet principled man who could never have imagined he'd succeed his predecessor the way he did over a month ago, sat wearily behind his desk as he'd just hung up his phone. He looked at Leon and said, "That was my Press Secretary. This...whatever is happening in Vermont, news of it is going worldwide even as we speak. You said that you believe this is the beginning of hostilities from this Order cult?"

Leon nodded. "According to my best information, yes, sir. Unfortunately, I don't know much more. This could be an isolated one-time incident limited solely to this town, but I'm afraid what's happening in Black Falls is only the beginning of something much, much bigger. And with this situation developing so close to Washington...we can't discount the possibility of The Order launching some form of an attack on our government."

As his elbows rested on his desk, one of the most powerful world leaders on Earth raised his hands and clutched them under his chin thoughtfully. "I've barely been President for over a month, helping our people pick themselves up from the C-Virus. I've been striving to reassure our own citizens and the people of the world that they can still have faith we are a positive force in this world, that everyone can have confidence in us. And now this happens." He looked to a nearby widescreen TV, which showed the real-time satellite imagery of Black Falls...or at least the fog that currently blanketed it like a shroud. "I can't even start to imagine how a group of lunatics could have accomplished what I'm looking at." His eyes then fixed on Leon. "My predecessor trusted you completely, Agent Kennedy. What do you advise?"

Leon said, "Without knowing exactly what is happening in that fog, our first immediate step is to seal off Black Falls from the rest of the world immediately."

"Agreed. And then?"

"Then we take action to find out what's happening. We need specialists to infiltrate Black Falls, and I have very specific people in mind who are best able to find out, sir. They include Chris Redfield and his BSAA; I have him on my phone right now. I already showed you the photographic evidence he was given by one of his people, Rebecca Chambers, that The Order is using bio-organic weapons. I therefore strongly recommend that the BSAA take point for investigating Black Falls, with the assistance of the DSO." Leon gestured to the beautiful brunette next to him as he said, "In fact, Agent Harper and I want to volunteer to help Captain Redfield and his people."

Helena Harper said with quiet strength, "We're both ready to do whatever we can to find out what's going on and stop it, sir."

Leon offered, "We won't be the only agents to respond, sir. In fact..." He paused only for a beat. "...I'll need to notify a fellow agent currently overseas who I believe can help us immensely. It may take some time, but having her as part of the operation will increase our chances for success." A part of him hated to suggest it, though, because he knew and cared for this agent deeply.

She was in Berlin at the moment...with Claire Redfield.

The President nodded deeply. "If you deem it necessary, then by all means proceed. And thank you both." It was only because he was still so new to his truly extraordinary station the leader asked Leon, "For the time being, as far as sealing off Black Falls goes, how do you suggest we proceed?"

Leon S. Kennedy said coolly, "This is a hostile act against our people on U.S. soil, sir. I've never been in the Navy, but four words come to mind...  
_  
"...all hands on deck."_  
**  
-4-**

**Brahms, Maine**

In the quiet solitude of her office in the Brahms Police Department, Captain Cybil Bennett and Wayside Corrections Officer Anne Cunningham shared with each other the stories of their experiences in Silent Hill as they sat on a couch. The sun's rays reached in through the windows above the couch, but the women felt little warmth. It took a while for them to tell each other their frightening tales, well past Cybil's time to go off-duty for the day.

Cybil Bennett told her story first, when in 1983 she was assigned to investigate Silent Hill late one night because the Brahms Police had lost contact with them. Not long after entering the town border, she had an accident and crashed her police motorcycle because of the brackish, persistent fog that overwhelmed the area. Unhurt, Cybil made her way into the desolate, foreboding town where there seemed to be no signs of life...until she found the unconscious body of Harry Mason. When he woke up, Harry told Cybil he also had an accident in his vehicle and lost his daughter Cheryl, who was traveling with him. Cybil and Harry went their separate ways to not only find Cheryl but investigate whatever was happening in Silent Hill. It quickly became clear that something was _wrong_ about that town, something as bad as a soul's most terrible nightmare.

At times, when an air raid siren wailed, Silent Hill...shifted between its fog-shrouded, derelict state and a horrible alternate version of the town punctuated by rain, blood, rusty steel, and a darkness worse than anything the deepest, bleakest abyss offered. Unreal, demonic creatures lurked in both versions, but it was when the darkness reigned those creatures were much more frightening, and far more dangerous. Worse, some of those creatures were once people who lived in Silent Hill, those transformed before or after death into macabre things that hunted for Cybil and Harry as they sought to understand how it all happened. It became most painful for Cybil to recount how she'd been savagely struck from behind and rendered unconscious by an unknown attacker - whether it was one of The Order or something else, she never knew - but the next thing she remembered she felt the agonizing, horrible experience of being a prisoner in her own body as she was controlled by a monstrous parasite that attached to her back. It made her attack Harry and nearly kill him, but he had managed to get ahold of a mysterious substance called Aglaophotis, which he used to destroy the parasite and free her. Finally, Cybil told Anne what she and Harry learned about The Order, their evil high priestess Dahlia Gillespie, and how they brought about the fall of Silent Hill with the help of those like a corrupt doctor, Michael Kaufmann...when the police captain got to other things, like the tragic fate of Lisa Garland (which Harry told her about after their escape) and why Dahlia wanted Cheryl, she was afraid the pretty prison guard would think she was crazy...but Anne Cunningham simply listened quietly, her wide green eyes focused on Cybil, and the blonde policewoman knew without a doubt Anne was serious about having been to Silent Hill.

Cybil's chilling experience in Silent Hill concluded on a note of bittersweet triumph when she recounted how Cheryl Mason and Alessa Gillespie not only became a single whole soul once again, but reincarnated herself into a new daughter for Harry after he defeated The Order's God...and together, the three of them left the darkness that dominated the heart of Silent Hill. But there was no happy ending: the police captain also recounted what she knew of Harry Mason being murdered by The Order 17 years later and Cheryl, a teenager who lived under the name of Heather, was forced to return to that damned town with the help of private detective Douglas Cartland. After a hard-won battle against the cult, Cheryl Mason escaped Silent Hill again and was finally free to live her live and find her own happiness...or so it seemed.

Anne got the impression that Cybil's story wasn't finished quite yet...but then the beautiful police captain asked what happened to the corrections officer.

Slowly, painfully, Anne Cunningham told her story, which began long before she found herself in Silent Hill. The story began when her father Frank Coleridge, who had also worked as a guard at Ryall State Prison, was so brutally assaulted by an inmate he was left in a vegetative state several years ago. The convict supposedly responsible was Murphy Pendleton, and Anne was consumed by grief and rage, which only have compounded indescribably after her father finally died years later. With vengenace in her heart, Anne began to formulate a plan to kill Murphy...she became a prison guard as well, not simply to honor her father but so she could get in a position to put her plan into motion. Anne hinted she had to do many things to curry favor from corrupt associates and lecherous superiors, things that she deeply regretted and dearly wished she could forget. Cybil was surprised this truly attractive yet unassuming young woman with short, dark hair could have been so hellbent to murder a man...but this was about family, about Anne avenging her father, and Cybil wondered how far _anyone_ would go to gain justice in those circumstances...

Last year in the rainy spring of 2012, Anne secretly arranged to have Murphy transferred from Ryall to Wayside, the prison where she worked, where she would kill him. In fact, the lady supervised Murphy's transfer personally. However, as they traveled to Wayside, the transport crashed within the borders of Silent Hill...Anne and Murphy were separated, and they both began to explore and make sense of the foggy, ominous place they found themselves in. Disoriented and overwhelmed by both fear of her surroundings and her anger toward Murphy, Anne journeyed through Silent Hill as it periodically shifted from fog to a much darker world each time the rain came in an overwhelming downpour. However, the alternate version Anne experienced was different in tone from what Cybil remembered...it was still darksome and bleak, but it was claustrophobic and harsh; water dominated instead of blood, and unyielding metal punctuated by grates was everywhere...it all felt ironically like a hellish prison, which did nothing to calm Anne as she hunted for Murphy. She also saw creatures in both versions of Silent Hill, like Cybil, and had to defend herself repeatedly.

Anne found Murphy more than once afterward, but because of the circumstances of a given moment or because she hesitated in spite of her anger, the encounters were little more than tense confrontations. That changed, however, as Anne saw a being she called the Wheelman again and again, a not-quite-human, ghastly creature in a wheelchair connected to life support machines by tubing. It reminded Anne of her father, who was rendered a helpless vegetable and also confined to a wheelchair. Anne became overwhelmed by her desire for revenge then...but it was also because of her seeing the Wheelman and other subtle, haunting things that she began to realize the otherworldly power of Silent Hill. She decided that this was where she had to finish her business with Murphy once and for all. One more time Anne confronted Murphy as he tried to escape Silent Hill by speedboat, and she shot him.

Inexplicably, they found themselves in a dark version of Silent Hill's Overlook Penitentiary...Murphy fought the Wheelman and destroyed it, only to be confronted by a vision of Frank Coleridge. He saw Frank bloody and lying at his feet after the beating that made him a vegetable, the crime Murphy had been tried and convicted for and added years to his prison sentence. However, the truth was that Murphy was innocent: he had only witnessed the beating which had in fact been committed by a corrupt guard, George Sewell. Sewell tried to make the convict kill Frank, an honest man investigating Sewell for his corruption, but Murphy refused...Sewell then beat Frank and pinned the blame on Murphy. Already consumed by guilt for long ago being unable to save his son from a killer pedophile, which set in motion events that led him to prison in the first place, he blamed himself for being unable to stop Sewell, too. Then...Anne was there to confront Murphy one more time, and she revealed who she truly was, that Frank was her father. Anne Cunningham could only see the man she wanted to kill as a monster, and because of both her incredible anger and Murphy Pendleton's terrible guilt, he literally transformed into the monster they _both_ believed him to be. The two began a brutal battle then in which both of their fates would have been decided.

The monster won, and it could have killed Anne...but the monster was still Murphy Pendleton inside, and in his heart and soul he was a good man who simply made some bad choices. Just as he could never have beaten Frank Coleridge, he couldn't have ever killed anyone. And he wouldn't kill Anne Cunningham.

The petite prison guard finished her story quietly as she stared into the distance: "He could have let himself be the monster I thought he was, Cybil. He could have killed me...but he didn't want to. I could feel him fight to be himself again, and just like that, Murphy was human. That was when I really understood once and for all what kind of man he was, and he couldn't have murdered my father...and I forgave him." Anne closed her eyes shamefully. "I felt like complete _shit_ for what I almost did to him, even though I knew he forgave me, too. I had to finally let go of my need for revenge, and I did. When we found ourselves outside of Silent Hill, I let _him_ go, too. I reported he died in the bus crash." Anne looked at Cybil and offered a small but genuine smile. "I have no idea where Murphy is now, most likely somewhere in Canada under a new name...but I hope he's okay."

Cybil Bennett was quiet for a moment as she thought of everything Anne told her. It all fit, even though it seemed Silent Hill had changed dramatically in the decades since the policewoman had been there. She wondered what those changes could have meant. Did that town...evolve over time? What Anne described of the place, that it was like a prison at the worst times, and how it worked upon her vengeful anger. Cybil knew that was important somehow...but she focused on Anne again and quietly said, "I'm in the same place you are, Anne. Like you, there's so much I don't understand about Silent Hill and...and what it became because of The Order and their insane need to bring their God to Earth. We've both seen that place change people, transform them into monsters even _after_ they die."

Anne felt a chill in her soul as she softly said, "Like Lisa Garland."

"Yeah." Cybil had never met Lisa, and in many ways she had been thankful for that. Harry told Cybil about his encounters with the attractive redheaded nurse who wore her signature matching red cardigan sweater over her short white dress in Alchemilla Hospital. Lisa was such a tragic figure, an addict to the drug PTV that her boss, Doctor Michael Kaufmann, helped manufacture for his own profit. Kaufmann used Lisa's addiction, gave her just enough of the drug when she needed it to make her do anything he wanted. The red nurse's primary role for the longest time in Silent Hill, however, was watching over Alessa Gillespie, who had been ravaged by a ritual performed by her own mother. Dahlia wouldn't allow her daughter to die, not while she was pregnant with the embryo of her cult's God. After she met Harry, Lisa wanted desperately to escape Silent Hill and the forces that controlled her, and more than once gave him information that helped him make sense of things and bring him closer to his lost daughter, Cheryl. But Lisa's situation took a shocking turn when she realized that she was dead, that she had died at some point _long_ before Harry met her, but she never knew. With that realization, Lisa Garland began bleeding from too many places as she transformed into a creature much like her fellow nurses, who had became dangerous beings that stalked her hosptial's halls like prowling wolves. Harry told Cybil with sadness he reacted out of fear and left the girl as she changed, as she wept and asked for his help. But how could he have helped her? Cybil didn't blame him at all for how he reacted.

Anne frowned. "I think...something about that town...or maybe something within Silent Hill feeds from the worst parts of people, and then it takes that energy to make what's inside people even worse. It may depend on a person's...personal demons." The prison guard leaned forward as she sat and her hands clenched together anxiously as she tried to make sense of it all. "There are times I feel..."

"Go on?"

Anne finally said hesitantly, "I-it's nothing, Cybil. My memories of that town haunt me, even in my waking hours. Especially what I remember when it changed from fog to..."

Cybil softly said, "The darkness." Anne quietly nodded. The police captain turned in her seat to face the prison guard fully...her expression was just as troubled. "For thirty years I've tried to come to terms with it, Anne. But honestly, I've been a coward." Anne looked at Cybil, who reflexively looked down, ashamed of looking into the brunette's eyes. "Most of the time I've avoided trying to really face what happened. I've focused on my career...on the husband and girls I love...anything else but Silent Hill and what it means."

Anne shook her head gently as she offered, "You're no coward, Cybil. I know we just met but the last thing I'd call you is a coward, especially considering everything you faced to help Harry get his girl back...!"

"But I was never there for them _after_ that. Harry saved my life, and I...I only kept in touch with him and Cheryl off and on in the years since. I wanted to put as much distance between myself and Silent Hill as possible. That included anything or anyone that reminded me of it, even Harry and his daughter." Cybil drew upon her inner strength to look Anne in the eyes. "You know, before I met Stephen, my husband, I felt an attraction toward Harry? But I didn't do anything about it. Stephen and my daughters are everything to me, I'd never ever trade my life today for a chance to turn back the clock. But...sometimes I wonder what could have been if I hadn't been so afraid. I did owe Harry my life and maybe even my soul. If I hadn't kept Harry at a distance, maybe..." She looked down again sadly as she thought, _Maybe Harry would still be alive today._

A quiet moment passed in the office. Anne said gently, "Cybil..."

But the police captain quickly, defensively said, "I'm all right, Anne." But then she said with more uncertainty, "I'm all right." Cybil sighed deeply and continued, and Anne was right that the blonde's story wasn't done. Not yet. "After Harry died, I tried to make it up to him by keeping in contact with Cheryl. Lord knew the poor thing felt so alone after losing her father. But...I'd always tell her I was too busy to meet her. I still kept her at a distance, only talking to her over the phone. Wouldn't you call that cowardly?"

Anne smiled warmly and said, "I made the biggest mistake of my life judging someone, remember? I'm not about to do that to you, even if you want me to."

Cybil gave her an uneasy smile in return. "When Cheryl realized The Order was still out there, she had me get in touch with a private detective, Douglas Cartland. I've helped him network, make contacts to get the information he and Cheryl needed." That was something she didn't share with Rebecca Chambers when she visited the captain's office not long ago...Cybil had simply wanted to protect Cheryl from being intruded upon by the agent; Douglas had felt differently.

Anne thought of all Cybil told her about that frightening cult. "I never ran into The Order when I was in Silent Hill."

"They were destroyed a few years before you were there, Anne. That was what someone else I know told me, and I had no reason to doubt her."

"Who?"

Something in the air shifted...Cybil became visibly uncomfortable. "Her name is Elle Shepherd. She's a cop here in Brahms, too. Elle and her husband Alex were also in Silent Hill."

Anne nodded. "How are they doing?"

Cybil's discomfort increased greatly as her eyes finally unveiled a repressed anxiety she hadn't shared with Anne...until that moment. "I have no idea. I...I think something's happened to them."

Anne stared at her. "Wh-what do you mean?"

There was so much tension in Cybil's voice... "This morning, Elle's dad called a 911 dispatcher saying he was alone and needed help. He's bedridden, and she and Alex have been helping him get his strength back for the longest time. A unit responded and found Elle and Alex's house broken into, some things had been damaged, and her father was there alone, just like he said. Alex's car and the police cruiser Elle drove were still in the garage, but they were gone. W-we have the FBI helping us, the department has all available manpower trying to find _some_ kind of lead, and until that happens we can't do anything with so little to go on! But Elle and Alex's families were part of The Order, and...!"

Anne understood. "You think The Order took Elle and her husband."

Cybil nodded as she closed her eyes. "_God_, I hoped and prayed those bastards were all dead, like Elle said. I hoped that at least for Cheryl's sake. She's been through things I can't even imagine because of them."

Anne thought quickly and asked, "Maybe Elle and Alex were taken to Silent Hill...?"

Cybil frowned...but when she looked up at Anne again, there was a light of growing purpose in her eyes. "I've thought of that, Anne." She sighed shakily as she decided once and for all that she had to set aside her fear, at the very least to do what she had to do. The captain finally said, "And I'm going to look for them." Cybil rose from the couch and she said quietly, "I...I have to call Stephen and the girls, let them know I have to leave town..."

"Cybil." Anne rose slowly to stand before the policewoman...she was also afraid, but there was an undeniable iron in her expression, as well. The brunette offered, "I'll go with you. If the shit we both went through taught us anything, it's not to go into that goddamn town alone." Anne drew close to Cybil, and the prison guard's right hand gently but firmly took hold of the policewoman's. "If you need anything, I'll be there."

Cybil nodded slowly as she smiled, her eyes full of gratitude. She said to Anne softly, "Thank you."

"Excuse me!" The women were so focused on each other, the man's voice surprised them. They turned to Cybil's doorway, which they saw was open, and there in the threshold an old man in a well-used suit, longcoat and a fedora stood. He looked at the blonde and asked, "You must be Captain Bennett?"

Cybil frowned. "Can I help you?"

The old man stepped inside her office and took off his fedora, revealing a full head of gray hair. Still, there was a youthful energy in his eyes. "You already did more than once, Captain, but we only talked over the phone before now. My name is Douglas Cartland."

Both women were visibly surprised. Anne had to ask, "_You're_ the detective who knows Cheryl Mason?"

Douglas' eyebrows perked up. "Who are you, miss?"

"Anne Cunningham. Mister Cartland...?"

As he drew closer, he said, "You can call me Douglas if I can call you Anne. How do you know Cheryl Mason?"

Anne frowned. "I-I only know _of_ her. Cybil and I were...uh..." She hesitated...

...but Cybil reassured Anne, "Douglas has been to Silent Hill too, remember?"

The private detective smiled. "Yeah, and I've got a lame leg to show for it." He looked at Cybil and asked, "I'm a former cop, so I hope I can call you Cybil, too?"

Cybil smiled. "Of course. But why are you here?"

Then...Douglas Cartland's expression became uncomfortable and unsure, like Cybil and Anne had been just before. He said, "I don't know how to answer that question. Seriously. I...I felt the need to talk to you. Kind of strange you're already talking to someone who's been to Silent Hill, too."

Cybil and Anne looked at each other, and then at Douglas. Anne said with a frown, "Yeah...but I have to wonder if it's just a coincidence." For all three of them, knowing what they had in common, it felt like fate.

Douglas asked, "Want to hear something stranger? On my way to see you, about ten minutes ago, I start hearing this really weird news story on my car radio. About a town that's covered in fog."

Both women stared at him...Cybil asked, "Silent Hill?"

He shook his head. "Nope. It's a whole different town. You got a break room with a TV in this place?"

Cybil led Anne and Douglas to a break room, which wasn't far away. A few officers were already there, and all were staring at the HDTV in a corner of the room. There was a special news report on, and digital camcorder footage from an eyewitness was being replayed as the reporter spoke. The scene was pure chaos as people stained in blood and screaming ran out of the fog as paramedics and State Police hustled back and forth; some of the officers were firing their weapons into the fog. At the bottom of the screen was the graphic, POSSIBLE TERRORIST ATTACK IN VERMONT. Underneath that were the words, _Casualties high as mysterious fog blankets town._

Anne felt a horrible foreboding just looking at that fog...because she recognized it. "Vermont...?"

Cybil recognized it too, and she felt horror coil in her gut. First Silent Hill, then Shepherd's Glen...and now a new town was being plagued by what she barely escaped thirty years ago. Cybil whispered, "My god..."

"There's more you both need to know," Douglas said quietly. "Something those reporters don't know." He looked directly at Cybil. "The last I heard, Cheryl Mason was there. So is this federal bioterrorist agent I talked to who wanted to help her. Cute girl with short brown hair who kind of looks like an elf - !"

Cybil said flatly, "Rebecca Chambers." But her wide eyes stared at Douglas as she said fearfully, "My god, you're saying Cheryl is there right now?!"

Douglas nodded. "Yeah. They both went to Black Falls looking for The Order, and then _this_ happens." He paused for a moment and said, "We need to talk."  
**  
-5-**

**Berlin, Germany**

Claire Redfield and Sherry Birkin went to a tavern that was a local landmark for over a hundred years. The place was intimate yet lively, as locals and tourists drank the local brew and had a good time, as anyone was wont to do in a tavern anywhere on the planet. But the ladies sat in at a booth the back of the establishment, away from most everyone else, as they cuddled and held each other needfully, the needful sharing of their warmth testament to how much they had longed to be together again...they had barely touched their frosted mugs as they talked and caught up. Claire was stunned by much of what Sherry told her about the girl's experiences as an intelligence agent. Then the beautiful blonde began talking about what had happened to her in the past year.

Sherry Birkin told Claire about how her legal guardian, National Security Advisor Derek Simmons, had her transferred to Leon S. Kennedy's organization, the Division of Security Operations. Around Christmas of last year, as the C-Virus epidemic raged across the world, Sherry was assigned the task of finding Jake Muller...because his identity was classified for his protection since, though, the young agent simply referred to him as Jake. She definitely didn't tell Claire that he was the son of the late Albert Wesker, who Claire and her brother Chris Redfield had a black history with. Jake never knew his father, and he'd grown up to develop a worldview so dark, he became a mercenary who sold his skills to whoever had enough money to pay him. Sherry found Jake and told him he had the antibodies needed to provide a vaccine for the C-Virus; Wesker had augmented his own genome dramatically in his lifetime, so much so he passed on a remarkable legacy to his son. (Perhaps the one positive thing that madman had ever done.) With the help of Chris and his team of BSAA operatives, Sherry got Jake out of an Eastern European battlefield plagued by bio-organic weapons.

Unfortunately, the international terrorist organization called Neo-Umbrella, which was responsible for the spread of the C-Virus, also wanted Jake, in part to secure him and keep a vaccine from being created. In spite of their best efforts, Sherry and Jake were captured and held until late June, when an opening finally presented itself for them to take advantage of and make a daring escape. It became one desperate battle after another against the forces of Neo-Umbrella since...and then Sherry was reunited with not only Chris but also Leon for the first time in years. The girl was shocked to her core to discover Simmons, her guardian nearly since Raccoon City, her mentor, was himself a cold-hearted monster. He engineered the assassination of President Benford and was involved with the international conspiracy that set the C-Virus epidemic in motion. With the precious information about Jake's antibodies in her possession, it became Sherry's drive to save Jake and secure his freedom...in the process, the spirit and bravery of the extraordinary young agent inspired Jake to take a better path. She had truly saved him, in more ways than one.

But there was one thing Sherry Birkin couldn't tell Claire Redfield...and it was something about herself. About how the G-Virus she'd been 'cured' of long ago in fact changed her. Sherry was so terribly afraid of how Claire might react if she knew.

Claire absorbed all Sherry told her, and she looked at the blonde girl with astonishment. "My god, Sherry. You were kept prisoner for _six months?_"

Sherry smiled back reassuringly. "Yeah, but it wasn't too bad, Claire. Neo-Umbrella wanted me and Jake alive to keep taking samples from us they could experiment with. In my case, I can guess they wanted to use my genome to strengthen the C-Virus, or to make something even worse. But really, my time being prisoner wasn't much different from being in the government's protective custody...when I was kept isolated, had my blood drawn and I was generally poked and prodded most every day for half of my life." She frowned a little as she looked away briefly. "It was easy to get used to."

Claire frowned too, but her eyes became angry. "What the hell does that say? You're so much more forgiving than I am, to want to work for the government after all they put you through."

Sherry quickly looked back into Claire's eyes and said, "It doesn't say much, Claire. The government did what they did to me for good reason. Heck, I was afraid I'd turn into a monster, too! I was afraid I'd become just like..." Sherry's eyes became full of sadness as she remembered Raccoon City. "...just like dad."

The brunette's arms offered a gentle squeeze as she embraced the brunette lovingly. Claire smiled and said softly, "I think I was the only one who had faith that wouldn't happen."

Adoration swiftly took the place of sadness in Sherry's lovely eyes. "I remember. I know we were kept apart for too long, Claire...I wish that never happened. But...maybe you can be a little forgiving, too? Please?"

"For you?" Claire nodded. "Definitely more than a little. But even after you started working for the government, things only got worse! We lost touch with each other completely because you were busy with one secret mission after another...!"

Sherry truly, deeply regretted that. "That was something I didn't think about before I signed up, and I'm so sorry I didn't. Still, I was given the chance to help people, and I had to take it. You know I always wanted to be like you someday..."

"And now you are." Claire felt joy as she shared Sherry's warmth, and her face drew closer to the blonde's. "Oh Sherry, you _are_ amazing. You're so beautiful and brave and giving...I...I-I can't even tell you how proud I am of you...!"

Sherry's eyes became bright as she gazed at her hero. Her inspiration. She breathed, "Oh, Claire...! I always hoped I'd hear those words from you." Sherry's face nuzzled into the side of Claire's neck as she relaxed. Claire then heard the girl's soft voice say, "I love you."

Claire's tender embrace of Sherry in turn became needful as she whispered back, "I love you too, Sherry." A warm, wonderful moment passed.

Sherry's smile was like she was experiencing a perfect dream. "That's all I ever wanted...for you to be proud of me."

The brunette pulled back by the smallest of measures simply to look into Sherry's eyes as they embraced. "Seriously? That's all?"

Sherry's eyes examined her hero's. "What's wrong, Claire...?"

Claire quickly said, "N-nothing! It's just...well...didn't you ever want anything else?"

Sherry gave a luminous smile. "And you call _me_ beautiful. Like what, for example?"

"Well, for example, didn't you ever want a normal life?"

Sherry almost laughed. "Define 'normal' in this day and age, Claire!"

Claire smiled lamely. "I'll need a few days to do that, sorry. Um, well, has there ever been anyone you...um..." Her voice trailed off as her eyes reflected uncertainty.

"What?"

"Have you ever met someone you wanted to, uh, be involved with?" Claire felt strange asking that.

"Oh! W-why do you ask?"

"Because I want you to be happy, that's all. What about that guy you told me about, Jake? You seemed to like him."

Sherry's eyes widened with sudden shock. _"Jake?"_ The girl giggled. "Oh, no! He's _way_ too independent! Besides, I have no idea where he is now."

"Oh."

Sherry felt a burst of awkwardness then, wishing she could tell Claire why she was in Germany in the first place, but she wanted to protect Jake. Sherry had found out almost by accident that he had one living relative, a half-sister who had a different father. She felt indebted to Jake for all he had done for her as they survived one battle after another, and she just wanted to make sure his only remaining family was all right, and she was. Sherry asked, "What about you, Claire? I want you to be happy, too. Are you involved with anyone?"

Claire's smile soured a little. "Nope, still single. I just haven't had the time since I started working for Terrasave years ago. Globetrotting and trying to help people doesn't leave my schedule open for anything or anyone else."

Sherry said, "Sounds a little too much like my life."

"Yeah." Claire bit her lower lip as she honestly had to think back. "Good grief, the last time I was ever serious with anyone was in college, a year after I helped Chris and the others get the evidence they needed to bring down the Umbrella Corporation. And unfortunately, the guy wasn't as serious as I was. I wanted a relationship for the long term, but he was scared of making a commitment. That's when I figured out I had lousy taste in men, too. But you've never met anyone who...well...?"

Sherry's pale cheeks glowed pink as she said hesitantly, "Uhh, actually, there _is_ someone I'm interested in..."

Claire's smile beamed upon Sherry. "That's wonderful! Uh-oh, wait! Does this person know you're interested?"

"It's safe to say they don't know, Claire...a-and it's a little personal..." The blonde looked away self-consciously.

Claire said softly, "I'm sorry, Sherry. I didn't mean to intrude..."

Sherry looked at her quickly and smiled as her slender arms gave Claire a squeeze. "You couldn't, Claire, it's okay! It's just...I'm so afraid to tell this person how I feel. I've wanted to for the longest time..."

"How long are we talking about?"

"A _long_ time. But I'm afraid they won't feel the same way."

"Oh. Well, life's too short, you know? Maybe you ought to bite the bullet and tell them how you feel."

"And if I do tell them and they don't feel the same way..." Sherry looked away, her expression anxious. Her voice became much softer as she finished, "...I'll want to die. I really will."

Claire's expression was elementally gentle as she looked at the girl she held so dear. "Sherry...I wish I could help you somehow...but all I can do is tell you what I think. Of course there's a huge risk telling this man without knowing if he'll - !"

"Claire..." Sherry's cheeks brightened even more. "...this isn't a _man_ I'm interested in."

The brunette was truly surprised. "Oh! I had no idea you're...!"

Sherry gave Claire a look, but there was still a smile on her lips. "Of course you didn't! I said it's personal!"

Claire nodded lamely. "Yeah." Her eyes looked into Sherry's as they held each other, and Claire hoped she gave the amazing blonde strength as she said what she felt she had to. "Well, this is still something I need to tell you whether you like a guy or a girl, so listen up! I might have made a mistake trying to make a loving, lasting relationship with that guy in college - to be painfully honest, I've done that more than once! - but I don't regret it. You know why? It might be a risk to offer your heart to another, but I believe that's better than never knowing what could have been because you didn't take the chance. For all you know, the girl you like will say yes, but you'll never know until you summon your courage and tell her. You understand, Sherry?"

Sherry sighed shakily as she looked into Claire's eyes...her beautiful face expressed a deep, elemental gratitude. "Thank you, Claire. But..." Sherry looked away again, suddenly afraid. "...but you need to know that - !" Suddenly, a ringtone interrupted, and Sherry stopped cold. They both looked at each other awkwardly as the ringtone issued again a couple of more times, and the blonde girl finally said softly, "Damn." She reluctantly, sweetly broke the embrace she and Claire had shared since they took their seats at that table. Sherry then took a smart phone from her jacket pocket and answered it: "Hello?" Claire watched as Sherry smiled and said, "Leon, hi! How are you?"

Claire frowned a little. "Leon...?" Why would he be calling Sherry? But then she remembered they worked for the same organization...that might mean...!

Sherry crisply said, "Stand by, switching to a secure frequency!" Claire felt a foreboding as the blonde girl punched a code into her phone. After a beat, she nodded as she held the phone to her ear. "Okay, go ahead!" She paused, and a soft frown formed on Sherry's lips. "Black Falls, Vermont? What's happened there?" Sherry listened, and her expression became worried. "You're serious. Okay, I'm in Berlin right now. How will I be picked up?" Another pause. "Uh-huh...okay, sounds good. Thanks, Leon. I'm on my way. Talk to you later." Sherry shut down her phone and she looked at Claire with eyes full of soul-deep regret. "Claire, I...I'm so sorry..."

Claire managed to smile, but she was truly sorry, as well. "Let me guess: duty calls, huh?"

"Yes. I have to go back to America. A situation has developed, and Leon needs all the help he can get."

Claire frowned. "Wait, this is happening in our _home?_"

Sherry nodded. "In Vermont, and it's serious. I have to go to Tegel Airport...Leon said a Gulfstream jet from Rammstein Air Force Base is already on its way there to pick me up and take me to Vermont as quickly as possible."

Claire didn't want Sherry to go...and it was so clear that the girl she adored didn't want to leave her, either. But Sherry had to...

...and yet, she didn't have to go alone, either. Claire quickly offered, "Sherry, I don't know if I'm violating any protocols or whatever the hell, but...I want to come with you. Maybe I can help, too."

Sherry's beautiful face reflected a storm of emotions. She instantly wanted to say yes so they'd stay together...hell, her authority gave her the latitude to okay anyone she wanted to accompany her, even a civilian. But Sherry knew wherever she was going the threat level was unknown, and that was the LAST thing a soldier or an intelligence agent wanted to hear. Going into a situation and not knowing what was waiting was the highest of high risks. And Claire would be going into a nightmare like that with her. Still...Sherry knew how extraordinary her hero was, not just because she survived Raccoon City but went on a crusade with Leon, her brother and others years ago to bring an end to Umbrella. If anyone had the experience and pure bravery to survive a horrible situation, Claire did without a doubt! Sherry's gaze was troubled as she asked, "Claire, are you sure?"

Claire smiled, her eyes as confident as they were loving as she looked at Sherry. "Yes. Besides, it took too damn long for us to see each other again. You're not getting rid of me that easily!" Claire at the very least wanted to go with Sherry to give her support before she was sent to face...whatever it was she had to face. Claire hoped with all her soul Sherry would say yes...

...and the young agent smiled gratefully and said, "Thank you, Claire. But if you want to go with me, we both have to leave right now!"

Claire Redfield nodded as she took Sherry's hand, uncaring of whatever fate had in store for the both of them. Being with the girl was all that mattered. "Can you say what's going on, though? Is it bioterrorism?"

Sherry Birkin's smile faltered only slightly. "Honestly, even Leon wasn't sure what's happening. We'll have to find out when we get there!" For now, until whatever was happening was brought to a conclusion, Sherry decided that what she nearly told Claire would have to wait.

It wasn't just about her secret abilities Sherry was so afraid to share with her hero...the girl thought, _Oh Claire, what I feel for you...could you feel the same way...?_  
**  
-6-**

**Brahms, Maine**

Back in Captain Bennett's office, the three of them had talked for a while longer. Douglas shared in full his experiences connected to Silent Hill for Anne's benefit. They all understood in the most primal of measures what was happening, and they could only imagine the horrors Cheryl Mason, Rebecca Chambers and over 20,000 more souls had to be facing at that moment.

Finally, Douglas Cartland smiled as he knew what he had to do. He thought of Cheryl, crossed his arms and said, "You know what? I suddenly feel like taking a road trip to Vermont...it's supposed to be nice there this time of the year."

Anne Cunningham smiled softly as she looked at Douglas. "Really?" She felt the same need to do what was right. And to hopefully, finally understand. "Cybil and I thought The Order took Elle and Alex to Silent Hill. We _were_ going to go there..."

Cybil Bennett quietly finished, "But if it means helping them...helping _Cheryl_...I don't mind driving a little further." Her smile was soft as well as she looked at her friends. "And we've got to warn the military and everyone else who will respond. They have no idea what they're dealing with."

Douglas said, "Then let's do this."

Cybil nodded. "I still have to call my family. Let them know I'll be busy." She turned to go to her desk, where her phone waited. Cybil hated to do it, to leave her family like this. She had to wonder if she'd ever see her husband and daughters again. But she thought of the late Harry Mason and his daughter, and that made it easier.

"Hey, Cybil!" The police captain stopped as she reached her desk, and turned to look at Anne Cunningham and Douglas Cartland. They were also ready. Come what may. The private detective and former cop grinned and asked, "How fast do you think we can drive to Black Falls on Code 3, with lights and siren going full blast?"

Cybil Bennett looked at him as she thought of Harry and Cheryl...she thought of the debt she felt she still owed them both...and she smiled and answered: "I don't know...but we're going to find out!"  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 is here, and the world is taking notice of the nightmare that has taken control of a small New England town. The government is rallying its very best to investigate the situation and do something about it...and you'll see some familiar faces among them! Also, Leon and Hunnigan share some warm moments in the shadow of the fog, and he has some surprising things to say about his long chase after Ada Wong...just read on!**

**You'll also see a few characters I had to include as a tribute to another series I enjoyed on the PSOne...the S.T.R.I.K.E. series. You'll see cameos from General Earle, Andrea Grey and Hack from SOVIET S.T.R.I.K.E. and NUCLEAR S.T.R.I.K.E.! (And they'll fit in well with this story in the way they do, don't worry!) Ahem, naturally, I must say the S.T.R.I.K.E. series and its characters are owned by Electronic Arts!**

**Also, you'll meet a certain reporter I included as a tip of the hat to a writer I've always respected, Chris Claremont. This character, Trish Tilby, was a recurring character back in the day in UNCANNY X-MEN...and it must be said she's owned by Marvel as a consequence, so I need to acknowledge that!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**Chapter 13:**

**"THE LONGEST WEEKEND - START"**

**-1-**

**Leon S. Kennedy said 'all hands on deck' when the President asked him how to proceed with completely sealing off Black Falls, Vermont from the rest of the world. **The leader followed that advice...it was easy, considering he had at his command one of the largest and most technologically advanced fighting forces on Earth. And so Operation: Lightning Strike was set into motion.

The President authorized a combined arms action that involved most every branch of the U.S. military instantly, and called upon the best from every intsallation within and around the New England states, from Bangor Air National Guard Base in Maine to Fort Detrick in Maryland...Fort Detrick was also home to the U.S. Army Medical Research Insitute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), which was specifically called upon with as much urgency as the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance since it was feared bioterrorists were responsible for the crisis, and their expertise in biological warfare would be essential. The peerless logistics and massive resources of the U.S. Air Force's Air Mobility Command were pivotal to transporting the lion's share of the needed personnel, vehicles and more to central Vermont - mostly by flying them to Burlington International Airport, where they would deploy and travel on land to Black Falls - as rapidly as possible, and did so within two hours.

Before the second hour was over, and during the lion's share of the third hour, the operation worked as fast as possible to accomplish its first phase: quarantine.

A heavily fortified ring was established to completely surround Black Falls, on the average about 100 yards outside of the thick fog's fringe, made up of a force of thousands of men and women that was nearly half of the population of the town itself. Most of the military vehicles employed to enforce the inner perimeter of the quarantine by land were eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles created to support infantry with their high speed and heavy firepower. The U.S. Marines in this action used LAV-25s, and the Army personnel commanded Canadian-made IAV Strykers. Many variants of both vehicles were present, and were essential for providing everything from anti-tank and anti-air fire (if necessary) to logistics and medical aid. A healthy percentage of the Strykers, in fact, were Medical Evacuation Vehicles on standby and ready to roar into Black Falls to find and assist any civilian casualties at the first opportunity...but because of the damn fog and the still-unknowable enemy within, it was anyone's guess when that opportunity would come. Half a mile out from this line, a secondary outer perimeter of force was established by the State Police - with military assistance - that would blockade every highway, road and trail that led to Black Falls from any unauthorized personnel.

The quarantine of Black Falls wasn't just limited to the ground. High in the darkening sky, a dominating presence was established by the 134th Fighter Squadron of the Vermont Air National Guard's 158th Fighter Wing, The Green Mountain Boys, which was federalized by the President. The 134th flew their time-tested and deadly F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets to enforce a no-fly zone over the fog, which rose over 50 meters high...like the forces on the ground, the pilots were also ordered to respond to anything that might leave the fog they circled by the air. (And the situation was surreal enough that such a possibility had to be thought about, just in case.) The 134th was supported by a squadron of AV-8B Harrier attack fighters from the Navy assault vessel U.S.S. _Bataan_, which was stationed off the coast of Vermont. The Harrier Jump Jets would also, in a moment's notice, support the helicopter forces much closer to the earth that reinforced the inner ring of the quarantine, and they arrived after the third hour of the crisis began...those elements comprised several squadrons of AH-64 Apache gunships, Marine AH-1 SuperCobra attack helicopters, and heavily armed Army Black Hawks, both MH-60Ls and MH-60L Direct Action Penetrator gunships, from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Two squadrons of AH-6 Little Bird attack helicopters were ordered to patrol the outer perimeter.

Within the dense inner ring, a handful of massive tents were rapidly erected on both sides of Kubrick Street to serve as the beginning of a forward operating base for Lightning Strike, material for them brought in by Army CH-47 Chinooks and Marine CH-53 Super Stallion heavy lifters...it wasn't known how long this operation would last - one of too many things the powers that be were unfortunately ignorant of about this crisis. Razor wire ringed around the FOB, and .50-caliber machine gun emplacements were established at each corner of the area and at its entry control points on the quarantine side facing the fog and the safe side facing outward; as time passed, more force protection would be added. The group of reinforced tents were built and, three and a half hours after the start of the operation, were ready and dedicated to command, communications, armory, electronic warfare, barracks and more...one of the largest tents was the start of a combat support hospital that would also grow over time, like the MEVs intended for any casualties extracted from Black Falls or for any soldiers wounded in battle. In the middle of the base was a landing area large enough to accomodate the landing and takeoff of a squadron of Black Hawk-sized helicopters at any time. This could almost have been the start of a community in and of itself.

As the quarantine was firmly established, the operation began preparations for the next phase: the infiltration of Black Falls.  
**  
-2-**

**2136 HOURS**  
**On the outskirts of Black Falls, Vermont**

Just outside of the inner perimeter ring of military force, hundreds of journalists were firmly entrenching themselves in the area, too...their portable lighting equipment from news trucks brightening the area as cameras recorded the military response and the fog just beyond. It was a decision on the part of the President himself that the media bear witness, to bring the situation as it happened to billions who watched and listened across the world. The State Police admitted those with the proper press credentials, but grudgingly, because they felt letting reporters be involved in the situation would accomplish exactly nothing. The President and most of his advisors, however, felt differently...exposure of the crisis, and especially what was being done to remedy it, would hopefully ease the fears of American citizens and people across the world...after all, this was as much a mission of mercy to help over 20,000 people as it was an armed response to an unknown threat.

However. Reactions everywhere instead reflected a collective, growing anxiety due primarily to the inexplicable, threatening fog that simply appeared to blanket Black Falls at the same time a group of terrorists staged an attack on the town. Scientists across the planet were stumbling if not reaching desperately to find a logical explanation for such a phenomenon, and it only made matters more unusual that local weather patterns were visibly flowing _around_ the mist as if it was a physical obstruction. That anxiety, combined with the reports of strange, dangerous creatures reportedly seen in the fog, prompted many to spiritual thoughts as people sought explanation and understanding by going to their respective places of worship across the world. Escalating arguments between theologians and pundits about the meaning of the fog and how it came to be only added grist to the mill. Mass vigils were staged that prayed for everyone as fundamentalist radicals celebrated what might have been the beginning of the end of a country they always hated and feared. It didn't take much for ever-growing numbers of people to wonder if this might be the beginning of the End of Days - and they had no idea how close they were to being right - as more agnostic souls thought that the ancient Mayan Calandar that predicted the end of the world in 2012 was a year off.

But if one wanted to meet those with a virtual hunger to understand and know more about the situation, one only had to look at the hundreds of news journalists as they made their live reports from the scene on the safe side of the quarantine barrier. Most were only twenty yards from that side's entry point for the FOB as they reported all they observed of the situation as they received information and discussed the situation with the news anchors of their home studios across the planet. The guards at the entry point considered the sea of talking heads with dour expressions; they didn't want the annoying newshounds to get in the damn way of their jobs. Unfortunately, as the press brought the military operation to billions of viewers, this alone only added to the anxiety. The press knew very little too, and half of what they had to say was speculation...words like 'could be' and 'allegedly' were spoken constantly. The sight of the quarantine alone as night fell - massive numbers of armed soldiers at their assault vehicles with their weapons pointed toward the brackish fog as helicopters patrolled the area above them constantly like swarms of agitated hornets - was an ominous one, especially to those with a worldview that leaned to the left. Any military historian could have told the President: massive media coverage was usually never an asset.

Leaks of information didn't help, either...especially one that was reported by most every media outlet on the planet just after 9:30 P.M. Worse, the information from this particular leak was completely wrong, but the press had no way of knowing that as the news circulated. This information spurred a lot of worry, even in those who reported it...one of those journalists was Trish Tilby, a pretty young brunette correspondent live at the scene. Tilby had recently ascended to one of the major cable news channels...she once worked for a network in New York City, and she had the right combination of beauty, intelligence, honesty and humanity that perhaps made her fated for even greater things. At the moment, though, the lady was less a professional reporter and more a human being after she was handed some information from her field producer. Tilby looked at the paper in her hand and read from it the same information her peers were reporting at that moment for their audiences... "Oh, I'm being given some new information, Scott! It...um, it comes from a source in the Pentagon...it states that if the military can't develop a strategy for the situation here in Black Falls in the next, uh, 48 hours, the military may fall back on the option of sterilizing the area before the situation gets any worse." Her voice began to develop a nervous edge. "Uhh, what that means is, every innocent civilian in Black Falls will be considered lost, and for the sake of preserving lives and ending this threat...a-a coordinated missile strike will be launched to eradicate the town and the fog covering it..." Tilby's voice trailed off, and she looked into her camera with wide, fearful eyes. "Th-the military wouldn't do that, right...? There's over 20,000 innocent people in that fog, and we have no idea how they're doing. W-we can't just write them off so fast!" Tilby swallowed dry air as she remembered... "Oh god, could we see a repeat of Raccoon City? O-or of Tall Oaks?" Tall Oaks was another New England town that, on June the 29th, was overwhelmed by an outbreak of the C-Virus - over 90-percent of its population of 77,000 citizens were infected and became monsters by that date; those who tried to escape didn't get far. The town was finally destroyed by a missile strike, which uncomfortably paralleled the sterilization of Raccoon City fifteen years earlier.

"Excuse me! Miss Tilby!"

Trish Tilby turned from her camera and saw a man approaching her from the nearby entry point to the FOB, flanked on either side by a fully equipped and armored soldier, both armed with M4 assault rifles. The man between them, however, was dressed casual in a leather jacket, light sweater, jeans and boots. He was in his mid-thirties, ruggedly athletic in form, and his styled brown hair accented the handsomeness of his face...his eyes distinguished him the most, gentle yet penetrating at the same time in their quiet gaze. The man stopped a few yards from Tilby as she and the rest of the journalists on the site instantly recognized and fixed on him...he focused on the brunette and said, "My name is Leon Scott Kennedy, and the President has authorized me to make a statement." Instantly, the sea of reporters collected before him, and they began to yell questions. He quickly raised his hands in a warding-off gesture and shouted, "Everyone! Everyone, please! Give me a moment to say what I have to say, please!" The din reluctantly fell silent after a moment...and Leon continued to look directly at Tilby as he spoke for the benefit of them all:

"I have to tell you all that the information you're currently circulating that came from a so-called source in the Pentagon is incorrect...we're investigating the leak, and we can only guess at this time that it was from someone who somehow got ahold of bad information." Leon also knew that whoever was responsible was in a shitload of trouble, but that didn't have to be said. Leon continued to focus on Trish Tilby, who was being visibly calmed as much by his words as his confident presence... "I realize you're all worried...I know there are a lot of people out there who are scared right now. Many are already fearing the worst from this situation, considering how unusual it is. But I speak for the President when I say we're a long, long way from employing a 'solution' like sterilizing Black Falls. You all know that Raccoon City had to be destroyed fifteen years ago as much because of politics as the need to save lives. As for Tall Oaks, I need not remind you that sterilizing that town was ordered by the late traitor Derek Simmons in an attempt to erase evidence of his crimes." It was strange that fifteen years ago, Leon S. Kennedy had simply wanted to be a cop when he traveled to Raccoon City on the worst possible night, at the height of the zombifying outbreak that claimed that community...and it was the beginning of his road to becoming a government agent with far, far greater responsibilities...and a greater chance to be a positive force for his country and the world. Leon was also involved in the Tall Oaks Outbreak, and when he and Helena Harper were blamed for President Benford's death, they both went through hell to expose and bring down that son of a bitch Simmons, who quickly and deservedly became one of the most reviled figures in recent history, ranking up there with the likes of the late madman Albert Wesker. Leon's heroic efforts were recognized publicly by Benford's successor, which was why the gathered press recognized him so quickly.

The Division of Security Operations agent continued in a firm yet level tone: "We are here to keep whatever has happened to Black Falls from affecting anyone else, but please remember this...like you, the President and those in command of this operation know as little as you do about the nature of this crisis. Bioterrorism is involved to some degree, but there is too much we need to know and understand, especially who is responsible for this and what their motivations are." That was a small lie...Leon, the President and a few others knew who was responsible, but there was good reason they didn't want that information public knowledge. "Rest assured that until we do know more, now that Black Falls has been quarantined, this military operation will have two objectives to focus on. First, to save as many people in Black Falls as we can...and second, to understand what is going on and why. We are in the process of preparing to infiltrate Black Falls and the fog covering it so we can accomplish those objectives. But until we do, the President and everyone serving him is of the same mind, that every possible option will be exhausted before Black Falls is written off, I promise you that." Leon very simply concluded, "That's all I have to say at this time." He began to turn away...

...but the collected press were still hungry for more, and an explosion of questions sounded from most of them. At the forefront, Trish Tilby frowned a little and began to call out, "M-Mister Kennedy - !"

Leon turned halfway again to regard her. "Sorry, I can't answer any questions...I have work to do!" He offered a smile as he nodded at the brunette reporter. "Miss Tilby." Then he walked away with his armed escort. Trish Tilby was the only one who fell silent as she looked after him thoughtfully...her peers continued to shout questions after him.

Leon S. Kennedy re-entered the FOB...he said to his escorts, "Thanks, guys." The soldiers nodded and returned to their duties elsewhere in the base. Leon then looked at someone else who was waiting for him.

A few yards away, an attractive lady dressed for business stood casually in spite of the hectic activity around her as she looked at him through her glasses. Ingrid Hunnigan smiled with approval and said, "Very nice, Leon! You're a natural in front of the camera." Her lips curled a bit with humor as she asked, "Are you sure you're not related to a certain family in Massachusetts...?"

Leon smiled back as he approached her and sighed, "Hunnigan, you know I hate politics. I just told people what they needed to hear, like the President wanted. I wasn't about to make a production of it."

The agent reached the lady who had long provided him support from long distance...she lost some of her smile and said, "I needed to tell you that the General wants to see you and Helena right away. He's also called on Captain Redfield and some others with the BSAA."

"Okay." With the commander of Operation: Lightning Strike settled in, he wanted a full briefing from Leon, Chris and the few others who knew anything about this situation. The bad news about that was, what they knew didn't amount to much. It certainly wouldn't help them with a strategy to infiltrate Black Falls safely.

Hunnigan's expression took a fully serious set. She asked, "Mind if I walk with you?"

Leon smiled warmly. "I don't mind at all." The two of them began to walk toward the command tent. Leon gave the lady an examining look. "Is something wrong, Hunnigan?"

Hunnigan gave him a look in return. "Is that a trick question? Leon, you must be able to feel it in the air, just like I do...it's what everyone here has felt since we arrived, and it's coming from that fog." The wrongness. The palpable, quietly oppressive aura that radiated from that smoky mist that prompted immediate, instinctive dread.

Leon frowned. "I know. It's not natural. I don't know what you must be feeling, but looking at that fog is like remembering my worst nightmare."

Ingrid Hunnigan knew that the less she looked at that damn fog, the better. Her expression shifted to become agitated...uncomfortable. "Leon, you've been through a lot over the years. Hell, I've been there talking to you half the time. But I've got a really, really bad feeling about this."

Leon S. Kennedy said reassuringly, "I'll be all right, Hunnigan. I'll make sure Helena will be all right, too. I haven't failed you yet, remember?"

Hunnigan stopped quickly as she gently reached out and took a hold of Leon's arm with one slender hand, making him stop, too. She gently goaded him to turn and fully face her. The lady's eyes were bright behind the lenses of her glasses. "You'd better not fail me now, buster. Seriously."

Leon nodded, his expression resolute. "I won't. I promise."

Hunnigan relaxed a little...and then her eyes examined him again. "I can't help but notice you and Helena have gotten closer since she joined the DSO."

Leon smiled fondly. "Helena's an amazing woman, Hunnigan. She - !" He stopped cold as a sunny smile suddenly developed on Hunnigan's face. He tensed a little defensively as he asked, "Wait, why are you saying that?"

Hunnigan almost laughed. "No reason, I'm just saying! You two have gotten really close."

"Well, we're not _that_ close. Helena still needs time to heal after everything she's been through, especially losing her sister."

Hunnigan nodded...she didn't need Leon to remind her of that. "Helena and I talk about it every day. I've known her since college, and she's probably the strongest person I've ever met. You come a close second, though!"

Leon smirked. "Thanks so much."

The lady frowned sadly. "But she's been through so much shit over the past few months...and to lose Deborah on top of it all..." This summer had been a living hell for Helena Harper. In June, when she was still a Secret Service agent, she was coerced brutally by Derek Simmons into assisting him with the assassination of President Benford during the Tall Oaks Outbreak he orchestrated. Simmons' leverage: Helena's sister and only living family, Deborah Harper, who he had kidnapped. If Helena didn't do what he wanted, her sister would have been killed.

Helena Harper, for the sake of family, for the life of her sister, did what Simmons wanted...and was absent from her post during a critical moment as his agents got within reach of President Benford and had him infected and transformed terribly into a zombie. That was when Leon S. Kennedy entered her life as the outbreak raged, as he was forced to destroy the leader who became a monster in Helena's presence. Full of guilt, desperate to find her sister, Helena promised she would give Leon the answers he needed...but she needed his help to find Deborah in Simmons' underground laboratory complex in Tall Oaks, where scientists under the traitor's command experimented with the C-Virus. Tragically, but not surprisingly considering the complete asshole he was, Derek Simmons betrayed Helena and used Deborah as a guinea pig while she was kept captive by him. Deborah Harper was transformed by the C-Virus into a beguiling yet fearsome creature...the woman she was had ceased to be, body and soul, and it was all Leon and Helena could do to stay alive against her fury. Deep in the catacombs under the city, in a soul-searing moment, Helena watched as the creature that was her sister fell to her death.

That wasn't the end of the torture for Helena...Simmons was a self-described 'intellectual' who knew how to think ahead and outmaneuver his enemies. He destroyed Tall Oaks and any and all evidence that would have damned him by ordering that infamous missile strike as the new President struggled to get himself established; worse, he used the circumstances to implicate Leon and Helena in the President's assassination! But Simmons underestimated the spirit and courage of Leon and Helena, who chased him to China and fought one battle after another to clear their names and bring the traitor to justice. Unfortunately, that hard-won justice couldn't salve Helena's loss...or her guilt for assisting in the assassination of the President she swore to give her life to protect. It had barely been a month since all of that shit happened, too. Hunnigan looked at the ground regretfully and said, "I've never seen Helena so depressed, Leon...I doubt she shares that with you."

Leon's expression was downcast as he folded his arms across his chest uncomfortably. "She doesn't, but I can see it in Helena's eyes. I still see the pain...and the guilt." Hunnigan looked at Leon, and his eyes took a solemn, compassionate set as he thought of Helena. "Don't get me wrong, Helena is amazing...and like I've told her, she's grown on me. But it's a bad time for me to try hitting on her, like you're thinking."

"You have no idea how...how alone Helena feels, Leon." Hunnigan smiled softly and reassured, "Maybe now isn't a bad time. Maybe you're exactly who she needs."

"I'm surprised you'd say that. I remember hitting on you, and you shot me down gently."

Hunnigan smiled a bit more as she remembered, too. "Leon, I brushed off your trying anything with me because I made a rule for myself a long time ago. NEVER get involved with an agent, because one day they may not come home alive after a mission." Her smile faltered as her eyes became sad with remembrance. "I've seen too many friends die for god and country, and I...I couldn't bear the thought of losing someone I..." She couldn't say any more.

Leon nodded quietly and said, "I understand."

Hunnigan's eyes shifted to inquisitveness again. "A part of me is surprised you're interested in Helena, though. What about Ada Wong?"

Leon's expression suddenly soured. "What about her?"

The lady stared at him in an 'Are you serious?' way. "Come on, Leon! Even Helena saw how you felt about Ada when you ran into her in China! She gave you Ada's compact, remember? You say you're interested in Helena, but I can imagine in the back of your mind you'd still be thinking of Ada Wong, superspy and femme fatale extraordinaire - !"

Leon quickly waved a hand side to side. "Hunnigan, please...enough. I'll admit it, Ada has always fascinated me. It's been fifteen years since I first met her in Raccoon City, when she worked for Umbrella. Then and every time I've met Ada since, however, she's gotten away from me...and maybe I should just let her go." Hunnigan looked at him with surprise. "I've really thought about it since China, and we couldn't be more different from each other. Ada has no loyalty to anyone but herself, and I've seen signs she's a spy for the thrill of the chase. She loves living on the edge, Hunnigan. People have called me a boy scout more than once, and it fits. I'm not an agent because I'm in love with daring the devil. Everything I've ever done has been because it's right." He then reached into an inside pocket of his leather jacket and he took out the pearl-white, streamlined compact Helena gave him that belonged to Ada Wong. Leon stared at the compact with thoughtful eyes... "Even if Ada did let me catch her one day if only to give this back to her, even if she stood still for more than five minutes...it wouldn't work. I'd want a stable relationship, but Ada would never want to slow down to give that a chance, ever. I can't keep chasing Ada Wong because she'd never want to be caught."

Leon S. Kennedy then offered the pale compact to Ingrid Hunnigan. She almost wanted to talk him out of it, if only because of something she felt the need to mention. "But you told me once that you got the impression she was attracted to you, as well...?"

"Even if that's true, Hunnigan, my chasing after Ada off and on over the years has still been like a game to her...and I'm getting too old to play games. More and more, I've been getting aches from doing things I had no problem doing five years ago! I figure I only have another five years, maybe ten if I'm very lucky, before I have to retire from the field."

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Hunnigan took the compact from his hand. "I'm sorry, Leon."

"Why? I'm just facing the facts." He smiled softly as he thought of Helena. "And if I have to slow down, more and more I believe Helena is the lady I can do that with."

Hunnigan's slender hand gripped the compact as she smiled back, truly happy Leon felt that way. Helena couldn't possibly have found a better man. But...the dread she felt, what everyone outside of Black Falls felt, returned. Light reflected in Hunnigan's fearful eyes... "I do hate the idea of you both going in there. It does feel so wrong." Her voice became thicker as she said what she felt: "I-I'm worried I may never see you or Helena again..."

"Hey." Leon S. Kennedy drew close and held Hunnigan's slender frame in a tender embrace, and the lady needfully wrapped her arms around him, too. They had been the dearest of friends and comrades for so long. She heard his confident voice say: "Helena and I came back to you before, Hunnigan. We're going to do it again. Okay?"

Ingrid Hunnigan relaxed into Leon as she felt herself smile...his confidence meant so much, especially now. "Okay." After a warm moment, she looked up at him. "C'mon, Leon. You'd better not keep General Earle waiting for you."  
**  
-3-  
**  
As it turned out, the commander of Operation: Lightning Strike was also one of the new President's recent appointments...he was a well-seasoned, veteran military leader who was just elevated to the position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military office short of the Chief Executive himself, in the United States.

Many would have said that Beauregard Earle climbed to the top of the mountain in the twilight of his military career by becoming Chairman of the JCS. Earle, however, would have been the first to disagree, and passionately. In his decades of military service, he found that his greatest triumphs were achieved while he was as far from the public spotlight as humanly possible. He'd always had a natural affinity for covert operations since he first joined the Special Operations Group during the Vietnam War as a Lieutenant. (That is to say, bluntly speaking, he knew how to be sneaky and ruthless as hell.) Ever since, Earle quickly but quietly earned a reputation as a man who knew how to get things done, and he did it without leaving a visible footprint in the history books. As the decades passed, as terrorism began to make an increasing impact upon the world stage, Earle understood that madmen with a cause and a death wish were more likely to reshape the world than some petty conflict between superpowers. As he once said, terrorists were threatening to create 'a new world disorder', and politics slowed down leaders from doing what had to be done.

By the 1990's, Earle and a handful of others who worked clandestinely for the protection of the United States put into motion a daring and highly illegal operation. It worked outside of international law and often in spite of the authority of the U.S. government. Still, S.T.R.I.K.E. got results, and even the President at the time played ball. The covert organization's creed was 'to stop wars before they happen', and in that sense, S.T.R.I.K.E. was incredibly effective. Nearly every operation Earle commanded 'off the books' was a complete victory and saved innocent lives across the globe...until a major crisis developed in spite of the best efforts of his leadership and his operatives' abilities because of an international conspiracy of power mongers, and very nearly resulted in the Second Korean War. Even though a world-changing conflict was stopped before it really started because of S.T.R.I.K.E., the political winds were already blowing in a way that even his ultra-covert organization wasn't immune to...the fallout, figurative and literal, from that crisis Earle wasn't quite able to avert didn't help. As quietly as it was born, S.T.R.I.K.E. ceased to exist.

For over a decade since, Beauregard Earle was forced to work in the light of day and became a general in charge of conventional military operations from Iraq to Afghanistan. He felt like a plucked duck, exposed and vulnerable away from the shadows he'd always worked in for the citizens of the United States. It was a testament to his leadership abilities and courage that 'going public' didn't reduce his effectiveness, and he continued to achieve one victory after another. But whether he led operations covertly or publicly over all of his years of military service, it's important to note that Earle had never, ever compromised his honor and principles for the sake of victory. In a world where his fellow military leaders turned into dispassionate assholes who judged their victories by how much collateral damage they could inflict, he led soldiers into battles both quiet and loud not so much to kill the enemy but to save lives. Naturally, this didn't make him popular among his fellow generals in the military...however, because of his clandestine experience, Earle had collected a LOT of damning information on some of his peers, especially where the bodies were buried. But it wasn't because of that leverage he became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; that resulted because of the fallout created by the actions of the late and unmourned traitor, Derek Simmons.

President Benford's successor to the leadership of the United States, in the wake of the C-Virus epidemic and Simmons' role in both that and Benford's assassination, sought to clean house and appointed new leadership for offices from the Secretaries of State and Defense on down. The new President wasn't hindered in any way by The Family, the secret conclave of interests Simmons was part of, the once-invisible force that decided the course of western civilization for centuries, because they were exposed and were fast on their way to losing the power they had in the same way the Umbrella Corporation did. When the time came to find a new leader of the Joint Chiefs, he picked Earle. Mostly because he knew he only had a handful of years left in the military anyway, partly to answer the call of duty, Earle accepted the appointment. That early Friday evening, as the Black Falls incident became public, the President chose Earle to lead Lightning Hammer, confident the former S.T.R.I.K.E. commander could earn another victory and save lives once again.

But in his command tent just 100 yards outside of Black Falls, General Beauregard Earle didn't look happy at all, and he had no reason to be as he listened to his guests, as his hard eyes bored into them. The 72-year-old soldier presented a lanky yet tense figure in his khaki short-sleeve uniform with his gray hair kept in a short military cut. It was everything one felt from the man that spoke volumes: his very persona and presence quietly radiated authority in a classic, stone-faced way, and one got the impression that even at his age he could probably eat Chuck Norris for lunch. He liked to go into a situation knowing everything he needed to beforehand, but in this case with a whole damned American town being threatened and sealed off from the rest of the world by some surreal, unworldly fog, with over 20,000 lives in the balance, he knew virtually nothing. How the hell could he lead soldiers into a situation to stop the enemy and save innocent lives when he was completely ignorant of what they had to face? Earle sought to remedy that by speaking to the officers from the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance's U.S. office, who included Captain Chris Redfield and Lieutenants Jill Valentine and Sheva Alomar...accompanying the three was a wild card the General didn't expect, a redheaded mountain named Barry Burton, a former comrade of Redfield and Valentine in Raccoon City...with DSO agents Leon S. Kennedy and Helena Harper. And even for all Redfield knew, what he said Rebecca Chambers was investigating in Black Falls before things went south, even with Kennedy's corraboration of those facts, Earle still wasn't learning much more than jack-shit. And according to the President, Earle wondered doubtfully, they were the ones who might best be able to execute Lightning Strike's second phase? Earle had the chance to go over the dossiers of these agents, including Burton's and those in the BSAA he hadn't met yet, and he was impressed...he was flat-out amazed by the classified-black information he read about Sherry Birkin, the DSO agent who Kennedy recommended join them, and he understood why they needed to wait for her...

...but Earle thought darkly that no matter who he sent into Black Falls, infiltration was as dangerous an option as could be imagined, if only because of the supernatural fog that blanketed the town...there was a 15 mph wind blowing through the area at that time, and the thick, smoky mist didn't move. At all. Worse, for some reason beyond explanation, it wasn't possible to look into the fog to ascertain what the situation was, even with the very best surveillance technology. From infrared scans on Earth to the very best spy satellites, _nothing could cut through that mist to see what was happening in Black Falls_. That would have meant anyone sent in would have been going in blind, in more ways than one; visibility in the fog was expected to be close to nil, and would have handicapped any soldier who tried to brave it. Sending an armed force into hostile territory even in the best of conditions was fraught with risk, but this... And that wasn't even taking into account the armed cultists within, or the strange creatures witnesses caught glimpses of as they barely escaped. Shit, Russian Roulette was a safer gamble!

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and commander of Operation: Lightning Hammer, the military response to the crisis that overwhelmed Black Falls, Vermont stared at the group of people who just told him all they knew with a grim expression on his chiseled face. Earle's voice was thin, his southern accent usually agreeable but at this moment holding a figurative razor's edge: "All right. Let me see if I understand this situation correctly, Captain Redfield. You had one of your agents, a Medical Specialist, investigate a domestic cult she feared was preparing to commit an act of terrorism on our own people...and you never took her worries _seriously?_"

Captain Chris Redfield almost visibly flinched as the others looked at him...ever since he saw Rebecca Chambers in tears and screaming for help on his phone's screen, he'd been second-guessing every choice he made that brought them here. Chris said simply, "Sir, as I just told you, it was something Rebecca wanted to investigate during her off time. I appreciated her worries about The Order. If I didn't think there was any merit to what she wanted to do, I wouldn't have approved of her going - !"

Earle snapped, "But you still treated it like she was just going on fucking vacation, Redfield. You didn't think for even a minute to provide her support, send another one of your people to partner up with her? You never even thought to take the step to alert this state's authorities or the feds in their local offices to be prepared to give Chambers assistance just in case maybe she was right? You just said, 'See you soon, don't do anything I wouldn't do!' Is that about it?" He didn't wait for an answer from the veteran survivor. "Bottom line, you didn't know the how serious the situation was until Chambers called you and said The Order attacked her and kidnapped Cheryl Mason, a person these lunatics want because they believe she's the mother of their God, which doesn't make much sense! She also said they're using parasites, possible bio-weapons, very likely to control people and make them their soldiers! And that's all you knew before the fog came down?" Chris nodded. Earle put his hands on his hips as he stared down Chris, who found the inner strength to keep his eyes fixed on the General in turn. "I would have thought considering your history since goddamn Raccoon City you would have taken some kind of precautions to assist Agent Chambers because in this crazy-ass world, _anything can happen at anytime!_"

Chris couldn't help but frown. "You're right, sir, and I have nothing to say in response to that. But I would have done more if we had any better idea what The Order wanted and what they intended to do!"

Earle's voice lashed, "Oh, that's all! Well take a good look outside, Captain, because THAT'S what this maniac cult wanted! Each and every square inch of Black Falls has been sealed off from intrusion by a _fog_, and there have been no reports anyone escaped since the initial violence that claimed hundreds of lives! Forget for a moment that this situation is like something out of _The Twilight Zone_, that The Order somehow summoned a fog out of nowhere that's standing in defiance of all natural law! It also seems to be able to knock out anything with an electrical power source, and it's connected with our inability to reach anyone in the town by phone, even the Sheriff's Office! There are scientists from MIT to DARPA and across the planet trying like hell to figure out how this could even be happening, and they've got nothing!" He stared at Chris even harder. "And you sent her knowing that this shit happened before to two towns in Maine."

"Sir..." Chris was about to say something, but then he frowned and looked at the ground. He said quietly, "Yes, sir." Jill and Sheva could only look at him helplessly...they didn't blame him for things coming to this, for Rebecca and so many more people being in unknowable peril.

Earle examined Chris with his hard eyes and said, "Make no mistake, Redfield. If I was in your place, I would have probably done the same things with so little to go on." Chris looked up at him. "I'm not here to place blame on anyone...that's a politician's game. But what we need to do is make this situation right again - !" He was interrupted by the phone that rang from his desk. He quickly stalked over to the phone, picked it up and said, "What?" A couple of beats passed. "Please repeat that." Whoever he spoke to did just that. "Okay. Okay. Understood, sir." He quietly hung up his phone and looked at the others. "That was the President. He's been grilling every one of his intelligence heads in Washington to find out if anyone already knew about Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen." His voice slowly burned as he revealed, "Turns out the head of the National Security Agency said his people have known for years. They sent agents on three different occasions to investigate those towns a long time ago, but no one ever came back out of the fog. You know what they did? They slapped a 'Threat Level To Be Determined' label on those towns, put the case on a shelf and _forgot about it_." Earle laughed ruefully...he thought about how 9-11 happened because intelligence agents dropped the ball then, too. "Back in my day and age, no one was ever that goddamn lazy." The General was quiet for a beat...

...but then he turned his attention to Barry Burton. Earle looked up at the big man and asked, "So what are _you_ doing here?"

Barry Burton cleared his throat as he felt his posture reflexively stiffen. "Sir! Captain Redfield and I worked together in the Air Force, and then I worked with him, Lieutenant Valentine and Medical Specialist Chambers in Raccoon City."

Earle impatiently said, "I know that! So the hell what?"

Barry blinked. "So, er, considering our experience with bio-organic weapons, which seem to be a factor in this case, I volunteered myself to assist the infiltration operation. Sir!"

"Burton, you're civilian P.D. now! I need better reason than that to make you part of this operation!" General Earle's stare challenged Barry, who was the chief of police in Billings, Montana. The bearded man-mountain tried to think fast to come up with something to say...

...but Jill Valentine saved him the trouble by saying, "General, all I can say is that Barry Burton is someone Chris and I can trust with our lives. His experience and knowledge in weapons would make him invaluable!" Barry suddenly felt warm from hearing Jill's words, but he still wanted to say something on his own behalf...

...however, Leon S. Kennedy said to Earle, "Sir, I worked with Barry and Chris long ago searching for information to bring down the Umbrella Corporation. It's been a while since we last met, but I have faith he still has what it takes to help this operation achieve success."

Helena Harper supported her fellow DSO agent by adding, "If Leon feels that way, sir, then I'm also confident Burton would assist us greatly."

Sheva Alomar said quietly, "General? If I may, perhaps we can make him an advisor to this operation? In that capacity, I'm sure Burton can assist us in many ways."

Earle looked back at Sheva and said, "An _advisor_." He frowned as he looked at the others...and then he turned his gaze to Barry again. He repeated, "An advisor." After a beat...Earle nodded and proclaimed, "I like the sound of that, Burton, so you'd better like it, too!"

Nervous yet grateful, Barry nodded quickly. "Yessir! I-I mean, I do, sir! Thank you, sir." He took a moment to look at his friends around him warmly...and then focused on one in particular: he shot Chris a look and growled, "Thank _you_ for offering a good word for me too, partner!"

Chris had been the only one who didn't say anything in defense of Barry coming along...he knew he didn't have to. Chris grinned back and said, "Hey, you're the one who wanted to come along - !"

"General?" The voice came from a woman who just entered the command tent, and Earle and everyone looked to her. The lady was an attention-getter...she was a statuesque blonde with short hair simply dressed in a blouse, slacks and boots; she had a regal beauty, even in her fifties, that made the women already present self-consciously wonder if they'll look as good at her age. Most of those in the tent recognized her from her work as a television reporter...

...but Earle knew her much more personally - they had worked together for years. The General nodded warmly and greeted, "Andrea!" He introduced the lady to the others: "Everyone, this is my media liaison, Andrea Grey." He looked back at the blonde and asked, "What can you tell me?"

Unknown to the others, Andrea Grey had worked for Earle in S.T.R.I.K.E. as one of his most invaluable operatives. Born in Great Britiain, Andrea once was a freelance mercenary who sold her deadly skills to whoever had enough money...until she offered her services to General Earle. Her public persona was as the lead reporter for an international news network, a position tailor-made for her so she could fulfill her true role: to build enough smoke and mirrors with her propaganda to conceal the military activities of S.T.R.I.K.E. For example, if a small yet brutal action was waged in oh, a Southeast Asian country, Andrea would report that the damage was the result of a natural disaster, say an earthquake. It was mainly because of her the secret activities of S.T.R.I.K.E. stayed secret, but no one would ever know that. After S.T.R.I.K.E. ceased to be, Andrea was quietly given American citizenship and 'retired' as a news reporter. She continued to work in counter-intelligence since, and for Earle in particular. Andrea told the General in her distinctive British-born accent, "I've confirmed through my contacts that so far no one in the press, national or global, knows anything about who is responsible for what's happening to Black Falls."

Earle's response was a small, cool smile. "That's good to hear."

Andrea looked at the others and enlightened them: "And that should give us something of an edge over The Order. If they are a cult of insane true believers, they are doing this in part for the sake of exposure and attention. They'll want to see their beliefs made public and as a result legitimate in the eyes of the world. Needless to say, we should deny such things to those bastards for as long as possible." And that was the logic behind Leon telling the press that the powers that be didn't know. Andrea frowned a little and said, "However...if the enemy doesn't communicate to us a list of demands, or at least a statement of some kind to give us an idea of what they want, then we should get worried. A zealot already prepared to die for their beliefs is dangerous enough...if they are not doing this to gain something, then for some reason they already believe themselves to be in a position of superiority. If that's so, then this situation will become _very_ ugly...whatever The Order wants to do next will raise the stakes even higher, or make us call on a massive supply of bodybags. It's simply a question of when that will happen."

Beauregard Earle quickly shifted everyone's attention to him when he said earnestly, "It's our job to make sure that _doesn't_ happen! Unfortunately, we can't do anything until Agent Birkin arrives in about four hours from now to join the operation. In the meantime, let's see if we can learn a little more about The Order and their Church of the Holy Way...knowledge is power, and we need as much as we can get. Fortunately, I know someone who can help with that." He picked up his phone and speed-dialed a number to the communications tent. He asked, "Lieutenant, is Hack back online? Reestablish a secure channel and put him through to me now."

On one side of the tent, a large widescreen TV was on display hard-wired directly to communications...it had been dark, but it suddenly brightened and Earle, Andrea, Chris, Leon and the rest saw someone appear. He was a bald, handsome black man with glasses sitting in shadowy environs...it wasn't possible to tell where he was, but he was surrounded by an array of computer screens, and all of them were quietly frantic with activity. Hack looked back at the viewers, focused on one, and said, "Yo, Big General! Nice to be working with you again!" Hack once led the third leg of S.T.R.I.K.E.'s power triad, intelligence, alongside the media and military operations. Hack, true to his nickname, was the best computer hacker on the planet. He once got caught hacking very sensitive government databases because he didn't like how they were doing things...General Earle approached Hack as he was about to start a very, very long stretch in prison, and offered a job. The rest was a history nobody would ever read about.

Earle nodded. "Good to see you too, Hack."

Hack smiled warmly as he looked at another. "Hey, Andrea. Looking lovely, as always."

Andrea almost laughed. "You're too generous, Hack. Thank you."

Earle asked, "Are you ready to give us a rundown on The Order?"

Hack announced, "Synchronicity threshold still holding firm, Big General. I did my searching on the digital superhighway using the keywords you gave me. You wanted the leader of The Order? Well, the winner is...Reeve Meyers, born in Silent Hill, Maine in 1964!" On the screens around him, pictures appeared of Reeve from early in his life up to high school. "And brother, in a nutshell, this boy IS a goddamn nut. He and his parents moved from Silent Hill to Tuscon, Arizona in 1976 when he was 12. The boy wasn't much of a blip on the radar until his mom and dad were murdered one night, killed in their own bed. Reeve was 21 at the time, and guess who disappeared that same night and is still wanted by the Tuscon P.D. for their murders?"

Earle growled, "Keep going."

"This was Reeve's last official picture from a Arizona driver's license photo taken when he was 19." Hack's image was replaced by Reeve's, as the man announced. "He's got one pasty face for growing up in the desert, huh?" It wasn't just his pale complexion that marked the young man - there was something subtly predatory in his features, especially his dark eyes.

Andrea commented, "I'd say he was charming...if I was deaf, dumb and blind." Jill Valentine stared hard at the image...this was the man who led The Order and threatened Rebecca?

Hack reappeared on the screen. "Reeve dropped off the grid completely, and what I had to tell you would've ended there...he either changed his identity or stole one from somebody else. But! I took his last known photo and put my latest facial recognition software to work, tweaking it for age ever since he disappeared. Then all I had to do was search for a visual match in federal, state and local databases across the country, and I hit paydirt! It all came easy from there." A montage of pictures began to appear, one after another, of Reeve as he grew older. Each picture was in a very different setting. "A lot of it involves pictures the FBI took of fringe groups getting together. You can see as time goes by, more and more of the same faces appear in pictures with him."

Earle concluded, "He was recruiting followers for his Church."

"_Exactamundo_, Big General. We're talking about people who hopped from one crazy cause to another until they started following Reeve, and they had rap sheets ranging from civil disobedience to robbery. Nice, _quiet_ folks, you know what I'm saying? They also liked to chat up a storm on Twitter."

Chris Redfield nodded. "That's how Rebecca found out about them."

"Those followers you see are also connected with The Order's websites..." Hack reappeared as he continued. "...there's four sites online dedicated to teaching folks about their Church of the Holy Way. These assholes believe in some _strange_-ass shit. Stuff about power through sacrifices, order must rule over chaos, their God one day returning to turn our world into a so-called Paradise. If you're a complete nutcase and you want to feel empowered, this is the cult for you!"

Earle said, "Hack, the moment you're done talking to us, send some viruses to burn down those websites. I want NOTHING left of them, you understand?"

"Your wish is my command, Big General!"

Andrea Grey asked, "Hack, the way you spoke before, Reeve was in pictures outside of FBI surveillance of the lunatic fringe. By any chance would other photographic evidence of him be in connection to criminal investigations?"

Hack responded, "Good question, Andrea, and the answer is yes! Many of the pictures were from state and federal surveillance of Reeve and others in connection to cases involving money laundering, black market weapons sales, racketeering - !"

"Stop!" Earle stared at Hack with intensity. "What kind of weapons?"

"Surplus weapons." Hack shrugged. "Maybe Reeve's on a budget. There's something else...Reeve's either smarter than he looks, or he can smell cops coming from a mile away. No matter what name he was using at a given time, and he's gone through a lot of names, Reeve was targeted for a sting by undercover agents on over 15 unrelated occasions over the years, but each and every time he'd disappear before the time for the deal went down."

Andrea stared at Hack's image. "He avoided getting stung every time? No one is that lucky!"

"What can I say, Andrea? He's either damned paranoid, or...I dunno. Maybe the boy can read minds?"

Earle said, "I'm looking at a fog that won't go away ever since it appeared like magic, so that wouldn't surprise me."

"Wait." Chris Redfield stepped forward...he asked Hack, "Has Reeve Meyers been involved in cases involving bioterrorism? Is there any indication he's dealt with rogue nations or groups that use bio-organic weapons?"

"You're Captain Redfield, right?" Hack shook his head. "Sorry, man. Far as I can tell, the answer is no to both your questions. But I can't see everything, as much as I want to. He's got some monsters in that fog, then he got them somehow."

Earle asked, "Anything else, Hack?"

"Yeah." Hack's expression suddenly became downcast and troubled. "My facial recognition software let me know that his face matches the artist's sketches of a 'person of interest' wanted in connection to over forty unsolved murder cases across the country over the past couple of decades. The sketches were made with the help of witnesses who reported an unknown man who was last seen with the victim. Each and every sketch looks exactly like our boy Reeve." He frowned and looked down.

Andrea asked, "Hack? What's the matter?"

Hack sighed. "The murders didn't just involve men and women. A dozen boys and girls up to the age of 14 were killed."

It got very quiet in the command tent as everyone absorbed that. Barry Burton asked, "These cases must have other things in common if Reeve and his people were responsible. Do the murders have the same M.O. or matching signatures of any kind?"

Hack said, "You're on the money, big man. Reeve leads a cult of lunatics...and every case also involved some kind of religious ceremony, a crazy ritual the authorities never made public. And the same symbol is in each case..." On a screen right behind Hack, a circular crimson-red graphic appeared. "The Order calls it the Halo of the Sun. It's the symbol of their Church."

Hack sat forward in his chair and stared at everyone in the command tent. "Listen, y'all. It's absolutely beyond me how the hell The Order created a fog to cover Black Falls, but I do know this isn't the first town they've done this to. You want an idea of what's happening in there? Looking at what happened to Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen up in Maine, I'm guessing the same thing is happening here. The Order put up the fog so we can't see what they're doing, which is making people dead right now. Over 20,000 people, and Reeve and his cult are killing them as I'm talking to you. I'm not sure if I want to know why...most likely to get more of the power they believe they get from spilling blood. What I also have to wonder is what The Order is going to do _after_ that. How are they gonna get away? Are they going to kill themselves and take as many folks possible with them? Or maybe they're going to do something _worse_ when they're done here, something that'll surprise us as much as this fog did? Bottom line, Big General, we need to get in there, terminate those assholes and save the day, all right? And we need to do it fast."  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 finally here! As our heroes outside of the fog gear up (hence the title of this chapter!) and Claire Redfield and Sherry Birkin draw closer, three special visitors arrive just outside of Black Falls...they have a lot to share, not all of it good, and they have an offer that will have a dramatic impact on this story! Also, Cheryl Mason, Rebecca Chambers, and those with them experience a brutal shock that will complicate the situation greatly, but it'll resonate for those of you who played SILENT HILL 3!**

**Also, I've included some supporting characters you'll recognize from the non-canon RE game OPERATION: RACCOON CITY. I know some of you hated the game, but I've made a few changes adding them to this story...they're *all* good guys, but be warned some of them might not make it through, in the same way 'Red Shirts' on the original STAR TREK series tended to drop like flies! But who will live or die? And does that mean any one of your favorite major characters from RE or SH might suffer a lethal end, too? Hey, it's too early and I'm not gonna spoil things!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**Chapter 14:**

**"GEARING UP"**

**-1-**

**Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean**  
**2157 HRS**

**The U.S.A.F. Gulfstream jet was flying high over the dark Atlantic waves this night at cruising speed, just over halfway finished with its journey from Berlin, Germany to Burlington International Airport in Vermont.** In the jet, among other servicemen and women, were two special passengers. For a couple of hours during the flight, Claire Redfield and Sherry Birkin talked some more, but their hearts weren't exactly in it. They had seen some of the news on a TV monitor in the cabin as Sherry got periodic reports from fellow Division of Security Operations agent Leon S. Kennedy...none of what they saw or heard about Black Falls was good. The uncertainty and anxiety they both felt knowing so little about the extraordinary crisis they were flying to was too distracting.

Finally, Sherry suggested that it might be a good idea to get some sleep during the flight, and Claire agreed. Considering Sherry was going to hit the ground running straight into that supernatural fog and Claire wanted to go with her, it wouldn't be a bad thing to be as rested as possible. Carefully, sweetly, the innocent blonde agent said, "I-I hope you don't mind, Claire..."

Claire asked, "Mind what?"

Sherry's wide blue eyes looked into her hero's. "I-I just want to stay close to you. That's all." The agent then moved to lie on the bench seat...and one side of her head softly descended to rest on one of Claire's thighs.

Claire couldn't have minded at all...she smiled with pure fondness upon Sherry as one of her slender hands moved. The ponytailed survivor began to stroke her fingers through Sherry's short blonde hair devotingly. Claire softly said, "Sleep well, angel." As long as the pilots didn't fly into any more damned turbulence that made the jet quake like Los Angeles on a bad day.

Sherry Birkin smiled wistfully as she snuggled into the brunette's lap and closed her eyes...she said in a whisper, "Love you, Claire."

Claire Redfield felt perfect warmth as she whispered back, "Love you too, Sherry." She continued to stroke her fingers through Sherry's hair as she felt the girl fall asleep. It took a while longer for Claire to drift off, though; she was preoccupied by her own thoughts.

Claire wished she had been as completely open as Sherry was when they talked. But for the ponytailed brunette, there was something deeply personal she couldn't bring herself to share. Claire had been unhappy for a long time...even with the positive results of the work she did in Terrasave, which seemed to devour more and more of her life, she was unhappy. The survivor should have elaborated that she was _depressingly, painfully_ single...she should have been able to confide in Sherry everything, especially after the blonde angel confessed so much, especially since it was about the same subject.

Claire had made her fair share of mistakes trying to find someone to share her life with. And it was an understatement that she had lousy taste in men. But she never told Sherry that it wasn't long after college Claire began to wonder if maybe she should have been searching for a man at _all_.

In private moments, quiet times when she really looked into herself, Claire Redfield realized that like Sherry, she was a lesbian. Unfortunately, again, her work kept her from truly trying to find another woman to have a relationship with. Claire began to wonder if she'd made a mistake joining Terrasave...did she honestly have to devote her life to them? How much longer could she do that? She had done so much work for them helping the victims of horrific disasters and conflicts involving bio-organic weapons, maybe it was time to stop? To find something else? There was nothing wrong with trying to find her own happiness, right? Claire frowned as she thought it wasn't that simple...

...and she thought of her brother Chris.

Claire quickly shifted her thoughts back to Sherry - she looked down at the amazing, beautiful girl, her expression serene as she slept. Why couldn't she have shared so much with Sherry? Because Claire was afraid, she knew...but that didn't make any sense! Why be afraid to share all of herself with Sherry?

Claire Redfield's eyes finally closed as she drifted off to a troubled sleep...as she wondered why...  
**  
-2-**

**Outside of Black Falls, Vermont**

The command tent of the Forward Operating Base for Operation: Lightning Strike, within the quarantine line that isolated the fog-shrouded town of Black Falls from the rest of the world. Only a few minutes ago, Hack strongly recommended that the infiltration of the town proceed immediately. But General Beauregard Earle, the operation's commander, kept in mind Sherry Birkin and how necessary her involvement would be, especially if the worst happened: if everyone else who went into the fog was lost, Earle thought that at least Birkin would return alive because of her unique abilities. The chances of the infiltration's success would have been reduced to somewhere between slim and none otherwise.

On one canvas wall of his office, General Earle stood in front of a large map of the town overtaken by The Order and whatever else was threatening everyone inside. He looked at those he was briefing - Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance officers Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Sheva Alomar...the advisor accompanying them, Barry Burton...and DSO operatives Leon S. Kennedy and Helena Harper - as Earle's media liaison Andrea Grey watched from the side. Earle announced to those assembled, "This is Black Falls! Each and every inch of it is covered by a fog that won't let anyone see inside...visibility within the fog is anticipated to be at least a few yards, give or take! If survivors who escaped The Order's lockdown are right, all lines of communication and many power sources in the town have been nullified! The entire area should be considered hostile territory under the enemy's control...besides the cult followers themselves, we must be aware both of citizens under the control of parasites and possible B.O.W.s of unknown type and number lurking within! The strategy of this infiltration, therefore, must focus on stealth and speed!

"Captain Redfield...Agent Kennedy...you will each lead a combined team of both your organizations! Redfield, your team is designate Alpha! Kennedy, your team is Bravo! Alpha Team will infiltrate Black Falls from the north at the same moment Bravo Team infiltrates from the south! Proceed with recon of the hostile territory as quietly but as quickly as conditions allow! Stick together at all times and don't let your teammates lose sight of one another, even for a moment!"

About ten minutes later, in the main barracks. Chris, Jill, Sheva, Barry, Leon and Helena stood before an even larger group of a dozen people...only half of them were in BSAA uniforms. The other six men and women were more individually dressed and outfitted in ways that reflected not just their roles and specialities but their unique personalities...and all of them looked as formidable as the skills they earned in their respective histories in a spectrum of special operations groups before they gravitated to the DSO.

The operatives from the BSAA included:

Sgt. Crispin Jettingham, former Green Beret...Medical Specialist Christine Yamata, who transferred from USAMRIID...Karena LesProux, former French Special Forces, who recently was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant...Sgt. George 'Vector' Kishino, former Navy SEAL...Cpl. Sienna Fowler, former S.W.A.T. sniper of the LAPD...and Medical Specialist Erez 'Harley' Morris, former Army Ranger.

These were the six DSO agents:

Vladamir Borovski, former Russian military...Michaela Schneider, formerly with the German GSG 9...Hector Hivers, former Navy SEAL and explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) expert...Caroline Floyd, who had been the first woman to become part of the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment...Marissa Ronson, former British Intelligence...and Lawrence Kimbala, former virologist with the CDC.

These operatives were being briefed on the infiltration strategy by Captain Chris Redfield and Agent Leon S. Kennedy, the team leaders. Leon focused on advising that both teams be cautious, as General Earle wanted... "We'll need to keep our heads on the figurative swivel at all times, everyone! A hostile attack could come from anywhere in the fog with little or no warning! We're going in under the belief that the human enemies will have as much trouble as we will with the fog's low visibility, but the unknown creatures will be another story! Expect the creatures, whatever they might be, to have senses far more sensitive than ours, that they will use pack tactics, have superior strength and speed...those of you who have had experience fighting B.O.W.s before already know the drill! Now..." Leon turned to a map of Black Falls on display in the barracks...he drew close it and pointed at the town's approximate center, at a specific building circled in red. "...each team will make their way to Wyler Community Hospital in the center of town...there we'll rendezvous and combine our forces, and if things have gone well, we'll have gathered enough intel to have a better idea of what we're dealing with!"

Chris looked the operatives and said, "That's the first mission objective of this infiltration, everyone: to investigate the town and determine the exact nature of the situation! We must be prepared to encounter the followers of The Order and possible bio-organic weapons at every possible turn, along with those citizens who are under the control of the unknown parasites...if that happens, we're authorized to use lethal force to neutralize their threat to the innocent civilians in town!"

"Captain!" Crispin Jettingham was frowning as he raised his hand. Redfield nodded and the Sergeant asked, "If they have innocents under their control, do we have some way to help them - ?"

Chris answered quickly, "No, not at this time! Until we do, you know standing protocol for dealing with civilians under the control of B.O.W.s, which is the same for any innocents infected and transformed by a virus...termination!" The mood chilled in the barracks...they were all moral, decent people who hated that necessity, but Chris took it upon himself to put the situation in the right perspective and remind them _why_ it was necessary: "Remember if you're engaged by a controlled host that wants to end your life, _think of your own life and the lives of everyone on your team first and end the threat!_ More importantly, think of the many, many innocents who need our help and far outweigh the relative few under the control of the enemy! The success of this mission and over 20,000 lives depend on what we do!" He remembered those innocents he had little choice but to kill in his time, those who had become zombies or worse from Raccoon City to the Mediterranean to China...and the people forever changed and controlled by parasites to become _Majini_ in Africa. The knowledge the people they had been were effectively dead and destroying them was for the sake of ensuring no one else would share their fate still didn't do much to ease his mind. It was the same for Jill, Sheva, Leon, Barry, Helena and everyone in the room who had such experience.

Leon added, "As we investigate, we'll also search for and secure any and every innocent civilian we can find...chances are they'll be in groups, sheltered in fortified positions! It's very likely we'll see a lot of civilian casualties at the hospital where we'll rendezvous! Hopefully, they can tend to their wounded by themselves because we can't take the time to babysit them or anyone else we find! If we bring an end to the enemy and what they're doing, their threat will end...like it or not, that takes priority!"

Chris then announced, "Our second mission objective is just as important...and I know this will affect some of you on a personal level, which is why I chose not to tell you until now." He felt like hell for doing that, but he didn't know how to tell his BSAA colleagues before...for better or worse, he had to now. "Our second objective is to find two people who may just be able to shed some light on the situation and help us understand how to end The Order's threat. The first is a young woman named Cheryl Mason...you've each been given a picture of her most recent photo so you'll know her by sight! We're not sure why, but The Order wants Mason very badly...she is also believed to be friendly, so it's our imperative to find Cheryl Mason and ensure her safety!" Chris paused very briefly as Jill Valentine looked at him with worry. "We're hoping that she's being accompanied by the _second_ person we must find and protect: BSAA Medical Specialist Rebecca Chambers. The DSO agents participating in this joint operation have her photo so they can identify her, too! Rebecca was last known to be in Black Falls before the fog appeared and all contact with the town was lost - !"

The reactions from the BSAA operatives he was briefing, those who traveled with him, Jill, Sheva and Barry from Washington, D.C., was immediate. They all stared at him with sudden shock and confusion. Christine Yamata asked hesitantly, "C-Captain, you're talking about Rebecca? _Our_ Becky?!" Rebecca Chambers had a way of making friends very quickly because of her cheerful, innocent soul, and she and Christine had become friends instantly when they first met. Christine, a former virologist for USAMRIID, had a love for science since she was a child, and she and Rebecca had so much in common. Each and every one of the BSAA agents there knew Rebecca to one extent or another, in fact, and all cared deeply for her.

"Hold up!" Erez Morris also worked in the BSAA's labs...he was also an excellent field medic; he distinguished himself in that role ever since he was part of the Army Rangers. His appearance didn't exactly peg him as a Medical Specialist, though. He was a heavily built, tattooed man almost as big as Barry Burton, and he loved motorcycles. Erez went to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota every year...it wasn't a surprise the big, burly biker earned the nickname Harley. Still, he was a true gentle giant and devoted husband and father. Harley could hardly believe what he heard and had to be sure... "Rebecca's in that fog _right now?!_"

Chris nodded sourly. "I'm afraid so, Harley."

Harley shook his head, not wanting to believe it. "The last time Christine and I saw Rebecca in the labs, she said she was gonna investigate some cult - !"

Chris clarified, "That cult was The Order, the same lunatics responsible for this crisis."

Christine suddenly stepped forward, her ordinarily sweet face full of anger. "Then what the hell are we just standing here for?! We need to get in there - !"

Jill Valentine, who was standing next to Chris, moved to Christine...Jill said, "Calm down, Christine!"

But the virologist couldn't - she shouted, "Calm down, _shit! Becky's in there!_"

"Christine - ! _Christine._" Jill quickly, gently took hold of Christine's shoulders...she stared into the virologist's eyes, compassionate yet unyielding. Christine stared back, and she couldn't help but issue a soft sob, and she looked down as she cried frustrated, helpless tears. Jill very nearly lost control and cried with her because she knew exactly how Christine felt...she also wanted Rebecca safe again in the most primal of ways. But Jill kept her focus and said gently, "You heard everything we've been telling you, right? W-we can't just rush in! Please tell me you understand why..." Jill's soothing voice had an effect almost immediately: Christine Yamata calmed visibly as she managed to look into Jill's eyes again and nodded.

As Jill Valentine soothed Christine, Sheva Alomar stepped forward to look at the others in the BSAA, who had managed to rein in their reactions, like Harley, but only barely. As the DSO agents looked on, unsure, Sheva said to her BSAA operatives, "We cannot just rush in, but you know Rebecca. _We all know her._ We know she'll find a way to survive whatever The Order is using to threaten everyone in that fog. Rebecca will be all right and she will be waiting for us. Do not lose faith in that." Sheva Alomar repeated those words with quiet passion: "_Please_, do not lose faith!"  
**  
-3-**

**2227 HRS.**

It was at this time an emergency call was made to General Earle from Ingrid Hunnigan in the communications tent: "General Earle? We're receiving word from the outer perimeter blockade on I-89...there's a police cruiser approaching fast from the north!"

Earle growled, "So what?"

"They're not locals, sir, and they're not responding to any attempts to communicate with them by radio - shit! General, they just shot through the outer perimeter roadblock on I-89 like a bat out of Hell! They're heading directly toward the base! Troopers are pursuing and Little Birds are diverting to intercept!"

Earle was already on his way out of his command tent when he asked, "Give me an ETA, Hunnigan!"

Hunnigan answered, "Maybe less than a minute, sir!"

"Put the base on full alert now!" Barely a second later, alarm klaxons sounded across the FOB. "Did our people on the outer perimeter identify the cruiser?"

Ingrid Hunnigan told him, "They said the vehicle is marked as Brahms P.D., General, wherever that is! Wait, I'm getting word from one of the Little Bird pilots. The crusier has a Maine license plate, sir!"

Meanwhile, not much further to the north. The police cruiser was a Dodge Charger four-door, and it had already been built for speed in the factory before it was given additional high performance enhancements for law enforcement work that made it a bane of would-be leadfoots. It blasted south at over 100 MPH on I-89 as its lightbar flared and its siren screamed into the night, echoing the five Vermont State Police units that were in hot pursuit. Two Little Bird AH-6 attack helicopters suddenly appeared out of nowhere and chased the cruiser, as well...their bright spotlights quickly brought day to night.

In the FOB, soliders everywhere were already responding and moving to their ordered positions as Earle marched to the vehicle entry point on the safe side of the quarantine line. Leon S. Kennedy, Helena Harper and Jill Valentine moved to join him. Jill asked, "What's going on, General?"

Earle answered coolly, "We've got uninvited guests." He then lifted his radio to his mouth, and his voice was heard by every soldier in the base: "This is Command to all personnel, we have a possible hostile approaching from the north on Interstate 89 in a police cruiser, and we don't know their intentions! I want everyone enforcing the quarantine line on full alert _now_, but no one fires without my direct order! I repeat, _no one fires unless the order comes from me!_"

The moment he said that, bright lights glared from the vehicles as they came over the distant rise and approached fast, less than half a minute away; the brightest lights came from the Little Birds as they stayed firmly on the cruiser. Soliders were still clearing reporters and their crews from the interstate just outside of the FOB. One of the Little Bird pilots came over Earle's radio: "Wraith Six-One to Command! I've got a target lock on this unknown, over!"

Another voice, the pilot of the other AH-6, said, "This is Wraith Six-Two to Command, reporting same! Do we have permission to fire? Over!"

The cruiser was 16 seconds away, give or take...16 seconds from literally driving into Lightning Strike's FOB, and Earle had no idea what they wanted. The General said, "Wraith Six-One, Wraith Six-Two, prepare to fire on my command!"

But...only a few seconds later, the Brahms Police cruiser began to slow...and over 150 yards from the base, it came to a stop. The State Police behind stopped and positioned their vehicles to block the cruiser from trying to back up. The Little Birds hovered in the air, their guns and spots trained on the cruiser.

General Earle looked at the sight with narrowed eyes as everyone else wondered what the hell was going on. He finally spoke into his radio, "All personnel, stand by!"

Leon drew close to Earle and asked, "General, with your permission?" He cocked his head toward the cruiser. After a beat, Earle nodded. Leon briskly drew his handgun and looked at the beautiful fellow agent with him. "Helena?"

Helena Harper quickly understood and said, "I'm with you!" She drew her own weapon...and together, Leon and Helena moved with purpose toward the unknown cruiser. After a few tense moments, they reached it...

...and, with Leon on the driver's side and Helena on the passenger's, they could see inside the cruiser in spite of the spotlights from above. They looked at the occupants...and then they looked at each other. Not relaxing for a moment, they both reached the front door windows on either side. Leon considered the people inside the cruiser and finally said, "Hello! Can I see your license and proof of insurance, please?" He said that almost as a joke because there appeared to be a police officer behind the wheel.

The driver, a lovely blonde woman of middle age in her police uniform, said, "I'm sorry for causing any alarm, but we had to get here as fast as we could. I'm Captain Cybil Bennett, Brahms Police Department."

Leon had seen the cruiser's front license plate and said, "You're a long way from your jurisdiction in Maine, Captain. Who are those folks with you?"

Cybil gestured to the pretty, green-eyed lady with raven hair next to her. "This is Officer Anne Cunningham, Wayside Corrections." Cybil then glanced back behind her. "And that's Douglas Cartland in the back seat...he's a private detective."

In the back seat, Douglas Cartland reclined comfortably, unfazed by the bright lights from above. He looked at Leon and nodded. "Evening, officer! Or whatever your rank is!"

Helena looked at this unusual group of people and said, "You came a long way if you're from Maine. Why are you here?"

Cybil looked at Helena and answered simply, "We're here to help you."

Leon stared at Cybil. "What makes you think you can help us, Captain?"

"You have no idea what you're dealing with in that godforsaken fog...but we do."

The DSO agents shared a glance. Helena Harper looked back into the cruiser thoughtfully and granted, "Okay. This entire situation is strange enough we might take your word for that. But _how_ do you know?"

The driver said, "Because we've been in that fog before. We've been to Silent Hill." Surprised, Leon and Helena glanced at each other again. Cybil Bennett then said, with barely-contained need, "Please, we need to talk to whoever is in charge right away!"  
**  
-4-  
**  
After a intense yet necessary security screening and verification of their identities, the three visitors were brought to General Earle's command tent to speak with him and the team leaders of the infiltration. It quickly became clear their claim of being to Silent Hill was legitimate, especially when Cybil talked about The Order (the cult's identity still wasn't known to the public, and would hopefully stay that way)...when Cybil and Douglas told them their histories and that they knew Cheryl Mason, the visitors had the full attention of their hosts. But like it was when Rebecca Chambers questioned Cybil and Douglas, all three kept the most supernatural parts of their experiences to themselves...they feared that they'd never be believed. They were still barraged by many questions, some the three could answer, and some they couldn't...

For instance: If this is the same kind of fog The Order created in Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen, how did they do it? Cybil answered, "I have no idea." Her friends didn't know, either. Do you know even a clue to the origins of the creatures in the fog? Anne said, in echo of Cybil and Douglas' feelings on the subject, "Wherever those Order assholes got those monsters, I don't want to know about it." What's the enemy's end objective? Douglas answered, "They want Cheryl Mason. They really believe she's the Mother of their God." When asked if that was honestly possible, Cybil flatly returned, "Those lunatics are insane. Isn't it bad enough they _believe_ that shit?"

The people who questioned the visitors from Maine - General Earle, Chris Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy and Earle's media liaison Andrea Grey - had expressions from very worried to flatly doubtful when they were told about one essential fact: in Silent Hill, any electronic equipment taken taken into the fog more advanced than a flashlight or a handheld radio would stop functioning...if soldiers were sent into the fog, they had to be warned they might face the same phenomenon if carrying complex equipment. The three were asked how the hell that could have been possible. Douglas could only offer, "It may sound nuts, but we're serious. It's something about the fog. Some things will work, but most stuff won't. It may depend on how high-tech something is. Have you sent some kind of drone thingy into that fog yet to try to see what's going on?"

General Earle answered with quiet irritation, "As a matter of fact, yes. Three times, we tried to send a Raven UAV into the fog to perform a recon of Black Falls from the air. The launch point was from a location a few miles away, and the Ravens were so small no one in the press noticed them." The RQ-11 Raven was a handheld unmanned aerial vehicle - similar to a model plane, it could be launched by hand into the air be a special forces operative - with state-of-the-art digital capabilities, and was operated by remote control.

This surprised Chris and Leon. Chris asked, "Why don't we know about that, sir?"

Andrea Grey answered for the General: "Because nothing came of it. All three times, we lost control of the Ravens and the surveillance feed being sent cut to black the instant they entered the fog." No wonder Earle was irritated. Andrea looked at Douglas and nodded. "Thank you for telling us this, we were about to try again with a Reaper UAV flown in by the New York Air National Guard. Those things are a lot more expensive than a Raven. Are you certain it makes a difference how advanced a device can be?"

Douglas shrugged. "I'm just guessing here, okay? Thirteen years ago, the car I owned was pretty old and I drove it into Silent Hill no problem, but I couldn't get it running when I tried to start it up again. Also, you'd better hope the utilities in Black Falls are about the same as Silent Hill's. Most lights should still be working...if they're working at all."

Leon, however, was focused on something else very important. "That doesn't matter as much as both losing control of our drones and their surveillance feed being disrupted. That means it isn't just phone lines and cellular devices that won't work in there. When our teams will be sent in, we'll have to anticipate that we'll lose all radio contact with the outside world and even to each other!" Chris and Andrea looked at him with serious worry then...

...but Earle growled, "Let's hope you're wrong about that, Kennedy. Your teams will have enough damn problems!"

"For what it's worth, unfortunately, you might be right," Cybil said. "I know from experience that telephones won't work at all and radios won't give anything but static in Silent Hill's fog...I don't doubt it'll be just as bad here." Then, Cybil Bennett told Earle and his fellow questioners, "Listen, I'm very sorry we can't answer all of your questions; in fact, everything we've said is making you ask even more. You have to understand that there's still so much about what happened during our experiences we don't understand, either...but if you're going to send anyone in there, we need to ask that we can join them."

Chris Redfield gestured to Leon and said, "We're the leaders of the infiltration teams being sent in, Captain. Why would you ask to join us?"

Douglas Cartland said, "Because we've faced this nightmare before. We know what's waiting for anyone who enters that fog. We might improve your chances of winning this fight...if you'll let us."

General Earle's eyes appraised the three as he said, "You and your friends are still asking for a lot, Mister Cartland."

"Are we?" Anne Cunningham was the most impatient of the three, keyed up and not in the mood to talk. "If you go in there and you're not prepared, chances are pretty damn good you'll never be seen again. Being there to tell you and your people what you're dealing with when something happens, telling you how to fight it...we're not asking for much, honestly."

Andrea Grey stared at the three thoughtfully. She offered, "You could take the safe road and simply tell us what to expect...rest assured, we will take your advisements to heart. In fact, I'd recommend to General Earle that he _not_ grant your request to join the operation - "

Cybil quickly implored, "Please don't do that. We came a long way...we would have gone as far as we had to for the sake of being part of this, helping you stop The Order."

Andrea's eyes gently examined the policewoman. "But it's personal for you. You want to help that girl, Cheryl Mason."

Douglas snapped, "And I guess nobody _else_ here is taking any of this shit personally? An entire American town taken over by a crazy cult, and now only the Devil knows what's going on in that goddamn fog? Who wants to guess along with me how many families are already dead? And what about you, Captain Redfield? Your agent Rebecca Chambers is in there. I can guess it's personal for _you_, too!" Chris had to frown in response...Douglas' words were right on target.

Cybil said, "I've known Cheryl for almost as long as she's been alive, General. The Order will do any terrible thing you can't imagine to make her their Mother of God. I already told you about Harry Mason, her father, and how he saved me and Cheryl...and thirteen years ago, those bastards killed him." Emotion filled her lovely face as she said thickly, "I owe him my life, and I owe Cheryl just as much...so _yes, it's personal_."

Douglas looked at the General and the others. "All Cheryl ever wanted was to be happy, to live a normal life, but she was afraid there were believers in that Church of the Holy Way still out there. I tried to help her find them, and I gave her the lead that took her to Black Falls. I told Rebecca Chambers that was where she could find Cheryl, too. But I think that lead turned out to be a goddamn _lure_. How else could a fog have covered this town like it did Silent Hill after Cheryl arrived to look for that cult?"

Leon S. Kennedy understood and quietly said, "The Order set a trap, and all they had to do was wait for Cheryl to walk into it."

Chris said with quiet tension, "Rebecca simply wanted to help her, and she got caught in it all, too." He gazed at the visitors and told them, "You need to know that the last I heard from Rebecca Chambers, she told me The Order kidnapped Cheryl Mason."

Cybil looked at Chris with wide eyes. "W-what - ?!"

"Listen. Rebecca told me she wasn't going to wait for help, that she was going to save Cheryl." Chris Redfield's eyes fixed on Cybil's as he said, reassuring, "I've known Rebecca for a long time, Captain Bennett, and she will do everything possible to protect Cheryl. Best case scenario, Rebecca and Cheryl are still together and they're fighting The Order right now."

Leon added, "We can't afford to think of anything worse that might be happening...besides, it won't help worth a damn."

Anne Cunningham said with quiet resolve, "But _we_ can help you. I don't know Cheryl Mason like Cybil and Douglas do, but from all they've told me, she can help you stop The Order. But we need to help you find her."

The command tent was quiet for a beat...then, General Beauregard Earle stood from his desk as he carefully gazed at the visitors. He then said, "Andrea, Redfield, Kennedy...I need you with me outside." He then said to Cybil, Douglas and Anne, "We'll be right back."

Outside, Earle put his hands on his hips and looked at the ground as Andrea Grey, Chris Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy collected around him. Earle asked, "Opinions?"

Andrea said, "I believe them, General."

Chris nodded. "Me, too."

Leon quietly agreed, "So do I."

Chris asked, "But can we be sure they'll help us?"

Earle gave the BSAA Captain a look and growled, "There isn't a helluva lot I'm too sure of at the moment. I'm just finding out we may lose radio contact with your team and Kennedy's the moment you enter that goddamn fog, and we need to verify that somehow before we send you in. So ask me a better question."

Leon crossed his arms. "We don't have to. If this fog and the creatures in it are the same as what they said about Silent Hill..."

Andrea nodded. "The Order _was_ involved with what happened to that town and to Shepherd's Glen, so it's possible."

Chris had to concede, "If we want this mission to succeed, then we will need them."

Earle looked at the others and said, "I want a consensus, people. Who's for their joining the infiltration?"

Andrea looked at the entrance of the tent. "I am, General."

Leon said, "They're both current and former law enforcement, so they know how to defend themselves...and they knew how to survive the fog of Silent Hill before. I'm for their joining us, too."

Chris thought for a beat...and he finally nodded. "If they can help us find Rebecca and Cheryl and survive whatever is in that fog...yes."

General Earle nodded. "All right. I suppose we'll have to designate them as advisors to your teams, like Redfield's buddy, Burton." He still frowned as he added gruffily, "I just hope they'll have as much luck here as they did in Silent Hill...maybe that luck will rub off on your teams, too." They all hoped that.

A ringtone suddenly sounded...the four of them looked at each other until Leon held up a hand and said, "It's me!" He got his smart phone from the clip on his belt and answered it: "Hello?"

A lady's voice he had listened to for years answered, "Leon, it's Hunnigan from the comm tent. Is Barry Burton anywhere near you?"

Leon said, "No, but Chris Redfield is." Chris looked at the agent as he asked, "Is there some kind of problem, Hunnigan?"

Leon almost felt Ingrid Hunnigan shrug over the phone. "I'm not exactly sure. I've got Kathy Burton, Barry's wife, on the phone. She says she's about two hours away from landing at Burlington International Airport. She wants to see Barry when she gets here!"

Chris asked, "Leon, what's going on?"

It was Leon's turn to shrug. "I don't know, but your old partner is going to find out in two hours!"  
**  
-5-**

**Black Falls, Vermont**

On the edge of the suburban section of the town, where businesses reluctantly yielded to residential area, one could have found Richie's, a pharmacy and soda fountain that had been a family business since the 1940's on the corner of Harris and Lector. Richie's valiantly fought against the march of time as an old-fashioned place where folks could not only pick up their prescriptions but also find a place to eat; it still served everything from ice cream sodas of many concoctions to sinfully good egg creams...there was even an old-time jukebox in the corner that played honest-to-god vinyl 45s of rock & roll classics from the 1950's. Richie's, like the rest of Black Falls, was a vacant, dirty, abandoned place...except for the bodies of many customers, from old timers to teenagers, and the young soda jerks who served them - all of them killed by a squad of Order Soldiers - laid on the once-gleaming formica or rested where they sat in stools at the bar, pools from their blood mixing with the grime as the flickering neon lights of the establishment illuminated the dead intermittently. The rest of the street was just as lifeless. In spite of this saddening, cryptic tableau, a group of survivors chose to find temporary shelter in Richie's storage cellar at the same moment General Earle (among others) questioned Cybil, Douglas and Anne.

It was cold and dark in the cellar, but a couple kerosene lamps were found that gave much-needed light. The five of them hadn't run into any of The Order since they left the Sheriff's Office, but they knew that would change sooner or later, even with the extraordinary abilities of one among them to give them early warning or help them evade the enemy. The bastards were systematically searching the town, one street to the next, going from door to door to find them, and killing anyone else they found who couldn't defend themselves. These survivors also avoided the creatures in the fog only by the barest of measures at some terrifying moments; again, unfortunately, they knew they couldn't stay lucky forever.

For this time where they shared their warmth in the cold cellar, though, it was quiet. Rebecca Chambers devotingly stayed close to Cheryl Mason, who was lying on a group of large storage boxes...Alex and Elle Shepherd held each other not far away as they both wondered how in the hell to make this nightmare end...but visibly apart from the others was Elza Walker; the ponytailed girl was growing more and more morose since she had been liberated from the jail, her wide eyes full of doubt and fear, and seeing so many horrible sights like the bloody massacre in the pharmacy-soda fountain above only made matters worse. Elza also looked at Cheryl far too often, and when she did her face expressed palpable doubt and suspicion...the more she knew about the lady The Order wanted, the more she knew about Cheryl's powers, the more Elza became fearful of her. A part of the BSAA Medical Specialist wanted to confront Elza, get it through her foolish head that the ponytailed blonde had to be patient and get to know Cheryl, and she could have seen the one Rebecca adored wasn't some kind of threat. They needed each other if they were going to survive this crisis, but the pixie knew getting in Elza's face wouldn't have helped anything.

Rebecca Chambers felt a _lot_ of personal frustration in spite of the horror of her group's situation...her feelings for Cheryl Mason could only have grown deeper with the passage of hours, and the agent wished dearly she could have expressed all that she felt. Rebecca felt so much for Cheryl, she knew they had to talk about it...Rebecca knew that the object of her desire felt just as much, but such intimate talk wouldn't have been appropriate in the company of the others. They had long ago agreed to never leave each other's sight, even for a second, which didn't give any of them much of a chance for privacy, much less intimate conversation...Alex and Elle had to be just as chaste since those intimate and far too brief moments in the Sheriff's Office; even though they were married, there was little intimacy with the others as they were forced to focus on surviving their ordeal, too. It didn't help that the damned control serum Cheryl was given had impaired her thinking to a degree almost as much as it physically incapacitated her in the hours since they escaped The Order at the hospital, so communicating by thought had to be kept to a minimum. Rebecca ached for the chance to have time alone with Cheryl, but only Heaven knew when that would be possible...one thought the brunette had repeatedly over the past five hours perfectly summed up her inner need and frustration: _Argh!_

Hope brightened in them all for the first time as Cheryl Mason managed quietly, "Becca...c-could you help me sit up, please?" Cheryl was already trying to do so, but it was clear that just doing that was costing her a lot of strength.

Rebecca bit her lower lip, her focus and concerns fully on Cheryl. "Okay, but...here, just take it slow...!" Rebecca took the freckle-faced beauty's hands and gently helped her sit up on the boxes.

Elle Shepherd's mood improved considerably as she moved from her husband to stand closer to Cheryl and Rebecca. But...Alex Shepherd didn't move as he looked at the women with a frown. Like Elza, he had his own concerns about Cheryl. But his wife didn't feel the same way as she asked, "Cheryl, are you okay?"

Cheryl looked down self-consciously as she continued to hold one of Rebecca's hands needfully. She said, "No, but I'm getting better, Elle. That damn serum Reeve gave me is finally wearing off...I may be weak as a kitten, but at least I can think straight!"

Rebecca cautioned, "Still, just keep taking it slow for now, honey. You hear me?" Cheryl smiled thinly and nodded. "Did you want to eat something?" She had

"No, I'm not hungry. Right now, I need to do everything I can to stop Reeve."

Rebecca frowned. "Are you sure? You just said you still felt weak...!"

Cheryl looked into the brunette's eyes and said softly, "Becca...I'm all right. People are going to keep dying as long as the fog covers this town. Reeve made me bring it here, and I've got to stop it any way I can."

"You'll do that?" Cheryl and Rebecca looked at Elza, who stared at Cheryl with quiet tension. There was too much of an edge to the girl's words as she asked, "You'll finally stop what you did to this town - ?"

It took a lot of self-control on Rebecca's part not to get angry with the girl...still, she suprised Elza when she suddenly interrupted, "Elza, remember Cheryl was _forced_ to bring this fog here! Don't confuse yourself!"

"Cheryl?" Alex looked at the freckle-faced beauty, and there was clear and present frustration in his eyes he didn't bother to hide. Like Elza, he was becoming far too impatient...being threatened by the fog and The Order again was bad enough, _Elle_ was being threatened once again. His pregnant wife was more important to him than his own life, and he was on the verge of blaming Cheryl as much as The Order. "There's still so much we don't understand about what's happening. We didn't even understand the fog and what it means in Shepherd's Glen and Silent Hill. Where exactly did this fog come from? And how the hell can it _change_ things so much, make things so...so damned dark?"

Cheryl looked at Alex and began quietly, "It...it's never been as simple as the fog _changing_ things, Alex." Pain flooded the lady's expression as she frowned and looked at Rebecca...her hazel eyes were full of apology. "I told you a lot, Becca, but...there's so much more you all need to know, and it's tough to explain in so many words. I-it isn't just the fog that came here because of me."

Alex asked tightly, "What the hell does that mean - ?"

But then Elle looked at her husband and said, "Alex, if Cheryl can stop this, questions can wait until later!" The hard look in her eyes told him she wasn't in a mood to argue the point, either.

Rebecca's hands sweetly took hold of both of Cheryl's as they rested in the blonde's lap...the pixie reassured gently, "It's okay, honey, that can wait. It really can. If you believe you can do this, go ahead." Her wide, blue eyes looked at Cheryl needfully. "I just wish I could help you somehow..."

Cheryl squeezed Rebecca's hands as she nodded and smiled gratefully. "You don't have to, Becca. I'll be okay." Her expression became solemn as she said with resolve, "I can do this...I _have_ to do this." Cheryl Mason took a deep breath as she and Rebecca gazed at each other...and then the blonde closed her eyes as she focused within herself. She marshalled her inner strength and courage, and her power invisibly began to reach out into space...into the fog outside, and she connected to the mystical, smoky mist...and in doing so, that made it easier to reach even further, into the ether beyond mortal perception, and establish a connection with the realm where the fog and so much more came from...with the gateway connecting that realm to Earth...  
_  
At that moment in eternity, in a realm endlessly dark and beyond all hope, a thing that only had the shape of a man furitively maintained a large arcane machine it built long ago. The machine had long secured the fog's presence on Earth - in Silent Hill, then Shepherd's Glen, and now Black Falls - from the place it came from. At the command of the thing that only had the shape of a man, the machine could also shift conditions from the fog to the complete, godforsaken darkness the thing belonged within. That was not necessary. Yet. From one part of the machine, two pairs of small, feminine legs could be seen writhing in never-ending pain as the bodies they were attached to were shrouded, confined and connected to its inner workings...the legs seemed to be made of shadow, nearly insubstantial. Suddenly, the thing that only had the shape of a man felt Cheryl Mason reach out with her incredible power...the thing realized she sought to undo what Reeve had begun in Black Falls. The thing that only had the shape of a man could not allow that. It was all-important that Reeve and his fellow mortals succeeded. They could not fail to reincarnate God. The thing that only had the shape of a man had failsafes built into the machine to make Cheryl Mason stop, and it crawled quickly across the surface of a machine like a hectic lizard. The thing accessed the machine's controls, and it turned Cheryl's power back upon herself.  
_  
...and without warning, Cheryl Mason's beautiful face twisted to express complete and total agony as she screamed, a terrible pain more intense than Reeve's psychic assault before, as the sound of her tortured wail overwhelmed the dark, cold space of Richie's cellar...her closed eyes squeezed shut as she lifted her hands and clutched the sides of her head as she screamed, and her nose began to bleed copiously on her flannel shirt. Jolted by pure horror, Rebecca Chambers cried out, _"Cheryl!"_ The pixie was already very close as she took hold Cheryl's shoulders...Elle Shepherd closed the distance fast, desperate to help but unsure of what to do. Alex Shepherd, who wasn't far away, simply stood there with confusion as Cheryl stopped screaming and her lithe body relaxed as she sat on the boxes, but she was clearly still in tremendous pain.

Elza Walker had nearly jumped out of her own skin when Cheryl screamed...her being cringed apprehensively as she looked at the situation and asked with building terror, "What just happened?! What did she do?!" And the fear in her voice was _still_ of Cheryl, dammit...

...which made Rebecca whirl on Elza, and the pixie's expression was fierce as she snapped, "_Be quiet_, Elza!" When she turned back to Cheryl, her expression softened again instantly as she said carefully, "Cheryl? Lie down for me, honey...j-just lie down..."

As Rebecca clutched her shoulders, which were supported gently by Elle when she wrapped one of her arms behind them, Cheryl shakily began to lie back on the boxes again as her crossed legs relaxed. Cheryl's every breath was a moan as she managed, "Oh...oh, god..." When Cheryl was prone Elle moved to Rebecca's backpack, which laid on the floor, and she opened it to find something to stop Cheryl's nose from bleeding.

Rebecca's eyes were bright with tears as she hovered over Cheryl and held her hands gently...she began to ask, "Cheryl, are you..." But the agent stopped as she became angry with herself. She was about to ask Cheryl if she was all right, and it was brutally clear she wasn't.

Cheryl opened her eyes, and Rebecca felt sudden, horrible fear...the whites of Cheryl's eyes were red, worse than bloodshot, like most of the vessels in the sclera suddenly, spontaneously hemmorhaged. Cheryl shakily managed to say, "I...I'll be okay...I just need..." She wanted to finish the sentence, reassure Rebecca she just needed time to heal, but the pain in her head was still so terrible. Elle was there then with a roll of gauze and a bottle of alcohol, which she gave to Rebecca. Cheryl finally breathed, "God, it hurts so much...!"

Rebecca carefully, devotingly wiped Cheryl's nose and upper lip with a piece of gauze lightly damp with alcohol...the pixie thought Cheryl would have to get rid of her shirt, she bled so much on it. Fortunately, the bleeding from her nose was already ebbing to nothing. Rebecca said soothingly, "Don't try to talk, honey...it's okay..." Hearing the sweet, beautiful brunette's voice and feeling her ministering touch was so wonderful, Cheryl almost forgot her pain.

Elle Shepherd looked at the lady with worry and asked, "Cheryl...can you say what happened to you...?"

Cheryl thanked Heaven as the agony slowly began to subside...she looked at Elle and said, "I tried to make the fog leave, Elle. I swear I did, but...but I-I couldn't. I tried, and something...lashed out, shoved my power back."

Rebecca Chambers frowned as one of her gloved hands moved to softly caress the side of Cheryl's face...she asked fearfully, "Was it Reeve, Cheryl? He made you bring the fog here...he must have done something to you - !"

Cheryl looked up into the blue eyes of her adored and said, "No, Becca. I-it wasn't Reeve." This was very, very different from Reeve Meyers' assault on Cheryl earlier. But...there was still something strangely..._familiar_ about it? She had felt an undeniable presence, something with a desperate, craven will that was responsible for turning her powers back upon herself. Cheryl tried to remember when she encountered such a thing before in her life, yet it was so hard to place in her memories. Thankfully, Cheryl's own power already began to help her heal quickly, but for the moment she, Rebecca and the others were still trapped in this transformed town, the brackish fog still dominated all within it...and even worse, _something unknown was able to defy Cheryl's power and stop her from bringing an end to this nightmare_, something she needed desperately to remember but couldn't. Cheryl Mason also felt deeply afraid as she told Rebecca, "I don't know what happened, but...something wants to keep the fog here..."  
**  
TO BE CONTINUED  
**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sigh, sorry for the delay again.**

**Finally, the next chapter is here! As a mystery deepens in Black Falls, we look into the heart of Jill Valentine, the first lady of Survival Horror. You might be surprised by what you'll find! And a change of plans will have nightmarish consequences...just read on!**

**"RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY"**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**Chapter 15:**

**"NIGHT TERRORS"**

**-1-**

**Saturday, August 31, 2013**  
**Somewhere in Black Falls, Vermont**  
**0017 HRS**

**Doctor Burton Young was at his wit's end...and perhaps his sanity's end, as well.** It had been hours since Black Falls literally became a place of nightmares with his quiet assistance. It was hours since he followed Reeve Meyers, the High Priest of the Sect of Valtiel, the last remnant of the cult known as The Order, and some of his followers from Wyler Community Hospital to what Reeve called 'a more secure location' for what the pale man called 'his own good'. That was all, no preamble, they just walked out of the hospital shortly after that government agent Rebecca Chambers saved Cheryl Mason and escaped with a couple his people had kidnapped earlier! Young thought he was going to die as he and the small group of cultists followed Reeve through the fog and heard the chaos, the nightmare sounds, the screams all around them until they reached their destination...like Reeve promised, they weren't harmed, but that was little consolation to the old doctor.

Young hadn't given much thought to those left in the hospital...Gwen Park, young Bea Montoya, and all of the staff and patients brought to hazard by the terrible changes...all of his fears were for himself. When he realized where Reeve had taken him and the group, he was stunned. But then, didn't The Order have months to insinuate themselves into this small Vermont town? In retrospect...no. Doctor Burton Young knew it didn't help to dwell on the past. What was done on his part to help The Order was done. He had to live with the consequences, but that was a proposition he could barely endure as he paced around in the room set aside for him in what Reeve claimed was a shelter from the horrifying storm outside. The cult's seal, the Halo of the Sun, was everywhere - emblazoned in red across every door and strategically on the floors at intervals. Reeve called them protective wards, but looking at the symbols in his room didn't make him feel safe - he felt the exact opposite, in fact.

It was just after midnight on this very early Saturday morning...with his grip on rational thought becoming a fragile thing, too frightened to sleep or even relax in any way, he had to talk to Reeve again. The old man still wore his silver suit as he moved from his room and down a dark hall to the double doors of an office, the seals on the face of each door. He reached out to open them, but he heard a voice from within that made him pause. It was Reeve himself, and it sounded like he was talking to someone. From through the doors, he heard the cool voice say: "Yes, it would have cost us dearly if Alessa had used her power, but she wasn't given the chance, was she?" A pause that lasted for a few seconds. "I know better than anyone your needs, and I share them, remember? We will do our part and secure Alessa again, and she'll finally serve her purpose as the Mother of God." Another brief moment of silence...and Reeve said impatiently, "Finding her should have been simple, but I didn't expect so many Soldiers to fall victim to the creatures I summoned from the same place we gained the everlasting fog. At least we still have the Puppets, and we can create more, as many as necessary to suit our needs. Only...what, perhaps three or four-thousand citizens of this town have died so far? There are still many, many more who we can..._convert_ to our cause, so to speak."

Young wondered if Reeve was talking to someone on the phone, but he quickly remembered telephones in Black Falls didn't work at all. But then, who was Reeve talking to? To _himself?_ The old man's curiosity got the best of him...he dared to turn the knob of one of the doors, and he slowly opened it a crack. Young looked inside and saw the cult leader standing in the office dressed in his ceremonial black robes, not far away from a desk with a small lamp on it that flickered from time to time. Like a horse fitted with blinders, Young's perspective was narrowed only on the pale man. He couldn't tell if anyone else was in the office or not. Reeve's expression was casual, unbothered as he stood there with his arms crossed and said dismissively, "Actually, I'd prefer to utilize the Puppets and the parasites controlling them instead of my human followers. Not only are they completely subservient to my will, the parasites are kin to the creatures I brought here, so I don't have to worry about them or their hosts being eaten...unlike my more vulnerable Soldiers." _God,_ Young thought, _this man didn't even care for his own followers?_ Reeve stood there silent for a beat, and Young didn't hear anything else...but then, as if in response to someone again, the leader smiled a little and said, "They need not know that...besides, they swore to live and die for God, didn't they? If they die before seeing Paradise brought to Earth, then that is simply their fate." Reeve turned after a moment as if considering someone, but Young still didn't hear anything or anyone else at all as the leader's expression became serious...then the pale man spread his arms and bowed in what seemed to be deference. His head hung low, Reeve said quietly, "I haven't forgotten we are in this together...we need each other. Have faith in me, because I have faith in - "

But before Reeve could finish, Doctor Burton Young had lost his patience...he burst into the office in spite of his fear and began to say loudly, "Reeve, why in the _hell_ are you - !" And the old man stopped awkwardly as he stared. He wanted to ask why Reeve was talking to himself...but he wasn't.

Young was a couple of feet into the office and finally saw that there was another in the office, only a couple of yards away from the cult leader. It was a man Young had seen before in Reeve's company a couple of times, and he was memorable because he was a distinctive sight. The man was a little taller than Reeve, bald and thin in his black suit and tie, and he wore black sunglasses. Young couldn't see the bald man's eyes, but the man was definitely frowning at the intruder. So was Reeve Meyers, who said with annoyance, "Burton. It isn't polite of you to interrupt our conversation."

_Conversation?_ Young looked at them with wide eyes and stammered defensively, "I-I-I didn't hear anyone talking but you, Reeve...I-I thought y-you were alone - !"

Reeve said, "You can plainly see I am not." The leader then turned to the other and began, "Forgive me, I..." Reeve's voice trailed off. The bald man in the black suit simply looked at him and remained silent, but Reeve bowed deeply and said quietly, "Thank you. With your leave...?" Again, the bald man said nothing and began to move to the doors of the office. The old man felt this man stare at him through his dark glasses as he passed by; he then left the office and closed the doors behind him. Young felt a sudden, instinctive fear of that bald man that rivaled his fear of Reeve. He finally heard the cult leader ask, "How long were you eavesdropping on our talk? That isn't polite, either."

Young stared at him and he said impatiently, "Wh-_what_ talk?! I only heard you and nobody else!"

Reeve Meyers stared at Young and said in a tone colder than an Antarctic wind: "_I asked you a question, Burton._ Do not make me ask again." Reeve stalked toward the old man...

...and Young knew perfect dread as Reeve reached him and stared the old man down. Young carefully, meekly answered, "I...I-I had only been at the door for a minute. I-I-I meant no harm, Reeve, I swear..."

The air in the office warmed, but slightly, as Reeve relaxed. He turned from Young and said dismissively, "Of course you didn't."

As he looked at Reeve's back, Young managed, "I...I-I had seen that man with you a few times before...I mean, before you brought this fog to town."

"And?"

"Y-you never intro...introduced me to him, Reeve. Who is he? I-I'm just curious."

As he looked away from Young, Reeve offered simply, "He is one you have no reason to know, Burton. Leave it at that."

Young eagerly did so without a thought, but he still frowned as he felt the need to ask, "A-anyway, why were you the only one talking?"

Reeve turned to look at him. "I wasn't. The one who left spoke to me by thought. He usually does. That was why you only heard me."

Young stared at the leader, perplexed. "I don't understand - "

"I realize you are simply curious, Burton," Reeve sighed...but then the expression in his eyes hardened and he said, "But if you want to stay in my favor and in the grace of God, do not ask about him again." A quiet, deadly beat passed as the old man fought the impulse to urinate in his pants, and barely succeeded. Reeve broke the silence by asking, "Now why are you here in the first place? I can guess you have other worries?"

"I..." Young gulped dry air. "...I-I just want to have an idea of when this nightmare will end. It's all too much for me...it..."

"The end will come soon, Burton," Reeve said. "I swear on my faith as a true servant to the First Servant of God himself, Valtiel, the moment Alessa Gillespie is back in our hands...her destiny shall be sealed and you'll be greatly rewarded. I never forget what I owe others for their services, but remember my patience has its limits. Simply be polite...be patient...and - !" Reeve stopped in mid-sentence...his face expressed surprise, and then his lips curled into a dark smile. "Well, now."

Doctor Burton Young suddenly felt fear twist in his gut. "W-w-what?"

Reeve Meyers laughed as he said, "It had to happen sooner or later...interlopers are entering the fog right now. The poor fools."

**-2-**

**Just outside of Black Falls**  
**About twenty minutes earlier...**

When she heard the question, Jill Valentine couldn't say anything for a moment. The survivor who endured one horror after another for the better part of fifteen years - and was changed by them - was quiet as she stood outside of the communications tent in the FOB...she held her smart phone to her ear in silence as she stared at the spectral fog that wasn't far away outside of the base. A voice finally spoke again into her ear from her phone, a man with a robust Italian accent: "Jill? Are you still there?"

Jill blinked and said quickly, "Yeah! Yeah, Parker, I'm here." She frowned a little as she lied, "I-I'm sorry, you cut out for a moment."

"Ah, understood, Jill," BSAA Agent Parker Luciani said from long distance, from the organization's United Europe branch office...she answered his call only a minute ago. "I'll ask again, then. How is everything?"

Jill bit her full lower lip, drew from her inner strength, and managed to lie convincingly, "Everything's good, Parker. I mean, it won't be much longer before I go into this supernatural fog to face god-knows-what, but otherwise, everything's good."

Parker laughed, "Ha-ha, I can only imagine what it's like to stare in the face of that fog. I'm looking at it now on this live news report, and it bothers me deeply. Forgive me, but there's something so ominous about the fog it makes me want to go to church. I understand a lot of people are doing just that to seek some kind of understanding."

Jill looked away from the fog and smiled a little. "I did say supernatural, didn't I? Until we do know how in the world this fog was created, we can only guess...and I've heard a lot of that guessing involves the spiritual."

"Even if I wasn't Catholic, I would wonder if this is the work of God. Or maybe the Devil himself. But I know you, Jill. You'll find out what's going on and you'll triumph over the bad guys, just like you did when we investigated the _Queen Zenobia_."

Suddenly self-conscious, Jill reminded her old partner and dear friend: "Parker, we fought those monsters together, remember?"

The tone in the European agent's voice cooled a little. "Yes...I also can't help but remember giving into my fear at the worst of times. I thought I was going to drown and speaking of the Devil, I would have made a deal with him to save myself, but you never gave up..."

Jill quickly, emphatically declared, "Parker, if you were here right now, I'd punch you in the face! How many times have I told you to not be so hard on yourself! Besides, I had no idea at the time you suffered from hydrophobia." Parker had confided that secret to Jill a couple of years ago, on one of many occasions he visited the lady while she was in the government's protective custody. "Even if you never told me that, you thought you were going to die and I would never have judged you for feeling what _anyone_ would have in your place. Besides, I recall more than a few times on that damn ship I would have been dead if you hadn't been there."

Parker Luciani said humbly, "You are a magnificent, generous lady, Jill Valentine."

"Hey, easy on the praise, mister! What about your fiancee? I'd imagine you have kinder words for her?"

Parker laughed again. "Isabella is an absolute goddess, Jill. I'm still so amazed we met, and even moreso that she fell in love with me...and she won't have to worry about me getting into bad situations much longer. By the time we're married next year, I'll be retired and we can have a nice, quiet life together."

Jill managed a warm smile. "I look forward to meeting Isabella at the wedding, Parker. You know I'm so happy for you both."

"Thank you, dear friend. Thank you. But what about you?"

The beautiful survivor's smile faded a little. "What about me?"

"I'm thinking of your happiness too, and I remember what you told me the last time we talked long-distance. Do you still want to retire, as well?"

The lady said hesitantly, "That's...still up in the air, Parker."

Parker asked, "Why do you say that? Is it because of Chris? Have you talked to him about it yet - ?"

"I-it's not just because of Chris," Jill said as she barely maintained her composure. "I'm sorry, Parker, but...it's complicated."

"I won't ask any more about it, Jill. But again, I want you to know that all I want is for you to be happy, too."

Jill felt so warm hearing those words, but... "Thank you, Parker. Listen, I...I need to go. I'm sorry I couldn't talk long..."

"It's all right, Jill, I know you need to get ready for the bad guys. I wish you and your friends the very best fortune."

"Thank you again...and I _will_ talk to you later. Take care, okay?"

She almost felt Parker Luciani smile over the line. "You do the same, Jill. Until then!"

"Okay...bye." Jill Valentine ended the connection...and she turned to again gaze at the distant fog that blanketed Black Falls a little over 100 yards from where she stood. It had been a simple question: how is everything? Jill deeply regretted lying to Parker, but the truth was far less sunny and more complex than she could have told him in so many words. The beautiful survivor looked back on all that brought her to this moment in time outside of Black Falls, Vermont as her face expressed the building, deepening sadness she barely hid from Parker as they talked.

Jill Valentine was only five years old when her father suffered a heart attack and passed away. As she grew since, Jill felt the void of his absence more and more; she wished her dad was still part of her life, that she had been given the chance to know him. As she approached graduation from high school, she decided that the only way to better know her late father, an Army veteran who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, was to follow in his footsteps. With the hesitant blessing of her mother, who suffered her beloved's loss so much more profoundly, Jill enlisted in the Army at the age of 18. The girl found herself overwhelmed at first by a way of life normally dominated by the male of the human species. Jill Valentine was by nature modest to a fault - she had never made an effort to draw attention to herself in any way before, but she realized she had to stand out in order to earn respect. The athletic, intelligent girl rose to the challenge and learned fast. Jill earned the attention of her superiors because of her proficiency in hand-to-hand combat and bomb disposal - she became so skilled in such little time, in fact, she was given a singular honor: the chance to train with the special operations soldiers of the Army's Delta Force. Jill Valentine continued to excel as she learned even more, including counter-terrorist tactics and lockpicking. However, spec ops were still fully in the domain of men, and she didn't hit a glass ceiling so much as a wall...but she had few regrets because she had never intended to devote her entire life to the military. Even though she felt so much personal reward serving her country to the best of her abilities, even though she might have been a natural warrior, Jill quietly put in her papers for an honorable discharge and left the Army in 1996.

That left Jill Valentine in an unusual position when she tried to figure out what to do with her life next. Outside of knowing how to play the piano, the skills she learned from the Army meant her choices of a vocation in the civilian world were limited. Then an opportunity came that same year when she heard of a special unit being formed by the police department of Raccoon City, a tourist destination in the Midwestern wilderness that was growing in popularity with nature lovers across the country. The Special Tactics and Rescue Service was created to respond rapidly to emergency situations and major crimes, and Jill applied for a position with the unit. She was accepted, and she met Chris Redfield, the man who became her leader in S.T.A.R.S.' Alpha Team. From the first moment, Jill felt an attraction to the strong yet quiet man who seemed a natural leader...it was so easy to follow him, to commit herself to Chris and devote herself to the team. Not long after that, Jill's mother tragically passed away from an illness, and she found solace from that terrible loss in her work with S.T.A.R.S. She felt reward again in serving and protecting others as her relationships with Chris and others in Raccoon City cemented...by the time she met Rebecca Chambers, a sweet and innocent new recruit who joined Bravo Team and bonded so deeply with her, Jill Valentine felt like she had found her place in this world.

And one terrible July night in 1998, everything changed. Most of S.T.A.R.S. was consumed, literally, by the cold-blooded machinations of the unit's commander, Albert Wesker, who secretly worked for the Umbrella Corporation in their secret, incredibly criminal bio-weapons facility under the darksome grounds of a hidden mansion deep in Raccoon Forest. Wesker sabotaged the labs and had both Alpha and Bravo lured there to be destroyed as he stole valuable research on bio-organic weapons...only Jill, Chris, Rebecca, Barry and pilot Brad Vickers survived. In the aftermath, with the assistance of city government officials on their payroll, Umbrella covered up their recklessly criminal activities (which were still being conducted in other hidden facilities in the city) and the survivors were disgraced. After Chris left Raccoon City to begin a maverick quest to find evidence against the corporation, Jill made preparations to join him...too late, because she found herself trapped in the city when a devastating, zombifying outbreak hit. With the help of Barry Burton and an Umbrella mercenary named Carlos Olivera, Jill was saved from being infected by the T-Virus and escaped Raccoon City before the government launched a missile that completely annihilated the town.

Jill lost so much because of Umbrella...she lost the city she called home, but it was far more heartbreaking when it sank in that all of those who lived there she swore to protect were dead...even Carlos, the man who saved her and became a friend, was killed as the corporation did all it could to cover its tracks and eliminate witnesses and evidence against them; Umbrella even sold their bio-organic weapons on the black market to fund their efforts, but Jill, Chris and Barry, with the help of Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy were ultimately successful and the corporation fell. After that, Chris continued his crusade against bio-organic weapons, and Jill followed him. They were parted briefly after they founded the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, but fate brought Jill and Chris together again during the incident involving the _Queen Zenobia_. The two were always so much stronger together than they were apart...but even for the best of us, there are limits. Like it was with the military, Jill Valentine had never wanted to devote her very life to the BSAA and to fighting B.O.W.s, and secretly she was becoming tired. But Jill stayed with Chris because of her devotion to the man and her hidden love for him. And then, finally, they tracked down Ozwell E. Spencer, the aged, fugitive former owner of Umbrella himself in 2006...but they also encountered the man who betrayed them so long ago, Albert Wesker, who found Ozwell first and murdered him. The battle that resulted with the genetically-enhanced madman ended with both Wesker and Jill presumed dead after they struggled and then fell from a tremendous height together...their bodies were never found.

The posture of Jill Valentine's lovely body became rigid as tears began to fall quietly down her cheeks as she remembered. Of course, she hadn't died; unfortunately, neither did Wesker. The bastard took Jill prisoner and experimented on her as she was kept in cryogenic suspension, and then he enslaved her with a powerful mind control serum. That monster Wesker had kept Jill under his command as an unwilling puppet for three years.

_Three years._

Jill Valentine was only partly aware of what she was doing under Wesker's control during that hellish time...it was like she was looking through the haze of a dream as she watched herself obey and assist the monster with his sick experiments to create the Uroboros virus in Africa. When Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar rescued her and destroyed both Wesker and his mad ambitions, Jill had changed so much. Her once-brunette hair had bleached to blonde, and her skin became ghostly-pale. Far too often in the years since that shit, she barely recognized herself in the mirror. Jill had suffered other changes because of Wesker's experiments...there had been dormant, lingering traces of the T-Virus in her since Raccoon City - the vaccine Carlos gave her wasn't 100-percent effective, it seemed - and Wesker not only took samples from her to aid in his research, the dark man did things that made the T-Virus establish a harmless equilibrium and changed her in a fashion similar to what Sherry Birkin went through when she was transformed by her father's G-Virus as a child. Those changes, which included dramatically enhanced strength and speed - she had almost killed Chris and Sheva with her bare hands, but their ingenuity freed her from Wesker's control - made the government place Jill in protective custody and carefully study her for even damned _longer_...until she was finally given her hearing, released and reinstated in the newly-established U.S. office of the BSAA only a month ago. But that time lost didn't matter as she was reunited with Rebecca, Barry and Chris...and oh, it _was_ like Hell to be without Chris for so long. Jill Valentine didn't want to waste another moment and finally tell Chris how she felt, especially since she sensed that he loved her too, so they could leave the BSAA and live a normal life together...

...but that didn't happen. Jill learned that while she was in custody at the time of the C-Virus epidemic that gripped the world, Chris Redfield had lost two teams to the horrors of the terrorist organization Neo-Umbrella. He was so affected by those losses, especially losing his friend Piers Nivans, he became that much more resolute and committed to his self-appointed crusade of ending the scourge of bio-organic weapons. Jill set aside her own needs again to continue to follow the man she loved...

...but it was all on the verge of becoming too much to bear in her heart and soul. Jill Valentine never regretted serving her country and the greater good, all for the sake of preserving innocent lives from bio-engineered terrors. But she was so damned tired...she had lost so much, including _three years of her life_...and she wanted to leave it all behind for the chance to have a normal, peaceful life. Jill yearned so deeply to share that life with Chris, with hope, happily ever after like the old fairy tales. But she kept silent because she knew better than anyone that being part of the BSAA had become Chris Redfield's life. Jill had no idea how much longer he wanted to fight, and she feared it might be until...he couldn't fight anymore. How could she tell him she wanted to retire, to leave it behind, and that she loved him and wanted him to join her? Jill couldn't help but fear the worst that might have resulted if she did.

_Chris, I love you...but I can't be a part of this anymore. I need you to come with me so we can be together._ Was it selfish of her to ask that of him? Even if Chris said yes, Jill was afraid that with the passage of time he would ultimately resent her, even hate her for making him leave his cause. And that would have been just as painful as his refusing her outright, that he'd choose his crusade over her. And how much more will Jill lose if she stayed in this life she was burning out from? Will she finally lose her own life? Or far, far worse, could she lose Chris? It was as if Jill was in a horrid, inescapable trap, and it didn't help the sadness and weariness in her heart at all.

Jill Valentine thought darkly, _Oh, everything's just...wonderful._ As quiet tears spilled down her pale cheeks, her arms crossed under her bosom as she hugged herself. For a moment, she felt so lost...and without sweet Rebecca, she didn't know if she could keep hold of her strength...

"Lieutenant Valentine?" Surprised by the soft voice that spoke behind her, Jill turned and saw the pretty figure of BSAA Medical Specialist Christine Yamata. The young virologist saw the blonde woman was crying and said awkwardly, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to - "

Grateful for the girl's presence, Jill quickly wiped her cheeks with her hands and reassured, "Y-you're okay, Christine. You didn't do anything wrong." Jill's expression was soft as she approached her friend and colleague. "And please, I told you more than once before you can call me Jill."

"Yes, ma'am - I-I mean Jill!" Christine frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry again. It's just...this whole thing is so crazy..." And she looked as lost as Jill felt.

Jill drew closer as she said, "I'm right there with you, Chistine. I'm still trying to make sense of this, too."

And this crisis was so personal for them both...Christine she looked down and said, "I know there's thousands of people in danger, but the worst part is Rebecca being caught up in this. Becky...oh god, if anything's happened to her..."

"Hey." Christine suddenly felt Jill's warm, gloved hands on her shoulders. She looked up into the veteran survivor's face. "Don't think that way. Remember you're not the only one who holds Rebecca dear."

Christine nodded. "I know. I can't imagine how you're feeling. I know Harley and the rest of the team are ready to give everything they can to help her."

Jill nodded and smiled. "So don't feel alone. We're going in, and together we'll get Rebecca back. You hear me?"

In spite of the cool New England night, they brought each other such warmth in this moment. Christine smiled brightly and nodded again. "I hear you, Jill!"

"Hey, don't forget to include the DSO!" The women looked to the confident voice to see two more people approach them, and they were both with the Division of Security Operations, the organization that would be working with the BSAA to investigate Black Falls. The man who spoke, Hector Hivers, was just over six feet tall and thick as a tank...he almost dwarfed the shorter lady with him, fellow agent Caroline Floyd. The big Latino reassured, "We're gonna be right there with you guys!"

Jill and Christine clearly didn't mind seeing them both, even though they didn't know these two or the rest of the DSO group well. Jill asked, "Agent Hivers, right?"

"Call me Hector!" But he quickly added, "Erm, I mean if you want to, ma'am!"

Jill looked at the lady with Hector and nodded deeply. "I've heard many great things about you, Agent Floyd. It's an honor."

Caroline Floyd nodded in return...the agent was Native American in descent, as exotic in her beauty as Christine. "I was about to say it's an honor to meet you, Lieutenant."

Jill sighed and held up her hands. "Okay, could you both call me Jill? We're not on the clock yet!"

Caroline nodded quickly. "Okay."

The BSAA Medical Specialist nodded as she looked at them both and introduced herself with a smile: "I'm Christine."

"Caroline."

A sly smile suddenly formed on the big DSO agent as he took a step toward Christine and offered, "You can call me Hector too, if you wanna - ow!" Caroline hadn't even looked at the big man as she interrupted him with a practiced, brisk Gibbs Slap upside the back of his head. She'd done it before, and more than once. Hector gave her a hard look in response. "What?!"

Caroline informed Christine and Jill mildly, "Pardon Hector, he's a would-be Casanova. Fair warning, he also thinks he's a practical joker."

Hector crossed his arms impatiently and griped, "Hey, you only say that because you haven't seen one of my pranks yet!"

"And I never will because you know if you even _try_ to prank me, I'll shoot you."

"Don't blame me if you don't have a sense of humor, Caroline!"

The BSAA agents were bemused, but Jill gazed at Caroline with appraising eyes. Jill said, "I only trained with the Delta Force years ago, but you're the first woman to truly rank up there with the men in spec ops. The first woman to become an Army Ranger."

Caroline Floyd smiled modestly. "It wasn't that big of a deal, Jill. At least, it wasn't to me. I had plenty of experience to prepare me to become a Ranger."

Christine asked, "What kind of experience?"

Caroline answered, "I learned how to hunt and track from my mom and dad back on the Cree reservation in Montana. Friends like to call me a perfectionist, but I just wanted to honor my parents and all they taught me. After I graduated from high school, it felt right to join the military. I'm as surprised as anyone I accomplished so much."

Jill observed, "You accomplished more than most men could, Caroline. I know your specialty was Long Range Recon Patrol. No one would ever call that a cakewalk."

Caroline looked at Jill thoughtfully. "What you've done is more impressive, Jill. You've hunted honest to god monsters for a living." The lady said much more tentatively, "I meant it when I said it's an honor to meet you. You're as much a role model for me as my mom."

Jill felt her cheeks flush a little...god, she honestly inspired someone? "Thank you. What made you join the DSO?"

Caroline said, "Actually, Leon Kennedy himself recruited me. I understand you know him?"

Jill frowned a little. "I don't know Leon well, unfortunately. We worked together years ago to dismantle the Umbrella Corporation, but I only met him a few times."

Hector Hivers suddenly said with a raised eyebrow, "Hey, is Kennedy _really_ as big of a boy scout as we think he is?"

Another man's voice suddenly answered: "That big and then some, Hector!"

The four looked in the direction the voice came from, and they saw a familiar figure. Jill smiled and greeted, "Leon!" As Leon S. Kennedy approached them, the others greeted the veteran DSO agent, as well.

Caroline asked her boss, "Has it been decided who's being assigned to which team, sir?"

Leon nodded. "Chris and I just got that settled, Caroline. We'll let everyone know their assignments soon." The handsome man looked at Jill and nodded deeply. "I'm sorry we never got the chance to get to know each other before now, Jill. I know Chris thinks the world of you."

Jill looked at him. "Really?"

"He told me so. Maybe after this, we can rectify that and finally get to be friends?"

Jill nodded and said with feeling, "That would be great, Leon...but I'm more focused right now on saving Rebecca." Rebecca was all she could focus on outside of...other complications.

Leon nodded, his eyes serious. "I haven't had the honor of meeting Rebecca yet either, but I'm looking forward to it. We'll find her and Cheryl Mason and make them safe again."

Caroline Floyd looked at Jill solemnly as she didn't just echo Leon's sentiment. "Jill, I speak for every DSO agent in this op...I speak as a _Ranger_ when I say we'll help you get Rebecca back!" Hector Hivers offered a solemn nod in support.

Jill Valentine felt so humbled to be with her friends, with such amazing, selfless people. For a moment, she forgot her sadness as she smiled and said to them all with a thick voice, "Thank you."

Sudden activity...a building roar was heard, and Jill, Leon and the others saw a group of five Strykers pull up to the barracks halfway across the FOB. Over two-score personnel came out, men and women fully armed and equipped with varied gear, and all were outfitted in both pale-white and camo-patterned NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) suits. They began to pile into the Strykers as Hector Hivers asked, "What the heck's going on?"

That was when Leon heard the ringtone of his smart phone. He got it out and answered, "Hello?" As Jill, Christine, Caroline and Hector watched, Leon's expression tightened with building anger as he listened. "Are you serious?!" He paused briefly, and then he quietly cursed, "Damn!" He shut down the smart phone and looked at Jill and the others. "Everyone, that was Chris, and there's been a change of plans!"

**-3-**

General Beauregard Earle radiated tension as he spoke into the phone he held to his ear: "Mister President, we need to stick with the mission strategy we agreed on before - !" He had to pause as Ingrid Hunnigan, Captain Chris Redfield, Barry Burton, Sheva Alomar, and many others watched and listened with quiet anxiousness. Earle spoke again: "Sir, in any other case I'd agree that time is critical...!" He listened for a beat and then shook his head. "Goddamn it, don't let politics make your decisions for you! I know you've been getting calls from the people to respond as fast as possible, but the situation is so unusual we _need_ to take this slow and wait for Agent Birkin!" He listened again as Leon, Jill, Christine, Caroline, and Hector entered the comm tent...they were in time to hear Earle say, "Sir, remember how badly we underestimated things in _Somalia_, and we rushed in only to come out bloody? I'm afraid that's exactly what might happen here if...!" His head lowered a little, almost in defeat. "I can only tell you what I think, sir. If this goes bad..." His posture didn't relax in the slightest bit. "Yes, sir. If this doesn't go well, we'll return to the original strategy and have Redfield and Kennedy's teams go in after Agent Birkin arrives." Earle finally nodded slowly. "Yes, sir. For what it's worth, I'll be praying, too. Thank you, sir." Earle then slowly, carefully put the phone back in its cradle in front of him...but he really wanted to take a hammer to the fucking thing.

The silence was far too loud in the communication tent...Leon quietly asked, "General?"

Earle growled, "This was the President's choice, not mine, and you just heard me try to talk him out of it. He's been facing more and more public pressure 'to respond affirmatively' to this situation, and he's buckled under it." He turned to look at everyone, and his expression was as dubious as the tone of his voice. "Because your teams have to wait for DSO Agent Birkin to join the operation, the President has ordered a task force be sent in combining personnel from the Rangers, USAMRIID, and the Centers for Disease Control to assess the situation in Black Falls."

Leon, Jill and those who came with them were stunned to hear that...those in the tent who already knew held expressions of doubt in the decision. Chris Redfield said with concern, "General, I'm not saying this because of ego or anything, but we should be the ones to go in! If those Strykers roll in blind without knowing what they're dealing with - !"

Leon Kennedy frowned. "If they roll in at _all_, Chris. Remember what Captain Bennett and her friends from Maine told us!"

General Earle almost shouted, "The decision's been taken out of our hands, all the same!" He regretted that outburst and took a moment to control himself. For Earle, this wasn't about ego, either. He was looking out for the safety and welfare of everyone who served him as much as those who needed to be rescued in Black Falls. "All we can do is watch and wait. Have our new advisors brought to me, anyway...they should be in the barracks."

Outside, scores of military personnel watched as the convoy of Strykers rolled out of the entryway on the quarantine side and began moving toward the fog at a slow but steady pace. They had to travel on Kubrick Street's northbound lanes into town because the southbound lanes were still full of empty, derelict, bullet-ridden vehicles that had been abandoned at the time the fog came, when the soldiers of The Order killed many on the fringes of Black Falls as they locked it down. Many personnel led by Earle, Andrea Grey, Chris, Jill, Leon, Sheva Alomar and others - which included Cybil Bennett, Douglas Cartland and Anne Cunningham - crowded toward the south side of the FOB to watch. The base itself was still continuing to fortify...watchers stood behind a chest-high wall of sandbags that surrounded the FOB just behind the ringed razor wire. Douglas Cartland griped to General Earle, "Hey! I saw those folks getting ready in the barracks, and they don't need those suits with the gas masks! We told you The Order didn't use any kind of gas or chemicals or anything in Silent Hill, and I doubt they'd start now!"

General Earle said to Douglas in an impatient tone, "They're taking that precaution at the President's order. That's one of several things about this shit that isn't my choice!" But then he and the others focused on the Strykers as they continued to move at a snail's pace...they finally reached the fog...

...and it wasn't long before something strange happened. Two of the Strykers disappeared into the ominous gray mist, but as the third huge vehicle entered the fog, shouts were suddenly heard just before that vehicle came to a stop with an audible metal _whump!_, like it ran into a wall. That made the remaining two Strykers behind it come to a stop, as well. Everyone at the FOB looked at the sight as soldiers quickly walked out of the fog and conferred with their comrades outside of it. A few moments passed as they discussed something, and a few of them were very loud and vulgar in the way they spoke. Finally, Earle and everyone around him heard over his radio, "Recon One to Command! Recon One to Command, we have a problem!"

Earle keyed his radio and said, "I'm right here, Lieutenant, go ahead!"

The voice of the solider transmitting to him said hesitantly, "Ah, something's gone wrong with our people in the lead, sir. Their vehicles just...stalled out, and they won't work anymore! Wait...they're also telling me they can't use their radios. They're only hearing static, and they can't send shit! Uh, sir!"

Leon looked at Cybil, Douglas and Anne...he said, "Well, we had to verify what you told us somehow. Looks like we just did."

Cybil bit her lower lip and said nervously, "I wish to god we were wrong, though. It _is_ like Silent Hill in there."

Earle suddenly felt a horrible foreboding, but he ignored it as he spoke into his radio: "What else do they have to report, soldier?"

The lieutenant answered, "S-stand by, sir..." The discussion between the soldiers in the distance got even more animated. Earle finally heard the soldier say, "It looks like most all of their electronics gear won't work, either! Everything from motion sensors to night vision and the infrared sights on their rifles died after entering the fog!"

Earle said in a clipped tone, "Son, that doesn't make sense!"

"I-it still happened, sir! Our people say their flashlights still work, though! How do we proceed, sir?"

General Beauregard Earle was very quiet for a beat as he felt so many eyes on him...he finally ordered, "You still have a mission to carry out, Lieutenant. The President wants to know what's going on in that fog. Leave your vehicles where they're parked, dump everything that won't work, and go in on foot. Keep your suppressors on your weapons and proceed very carefully. Keep your eyes open in every direction, stay quiet..." He paused briefly. "...and godspeed, son. Out."

The voice of the leader of the task force responded confidently, "Understood, sir! Recon One proceeding, Command, out!"

Jill Valentine didn't want to believe the situation, either. "It's crazy! A _fog_ jamming communications and shutting down electronic systems! How the hell could that even be possible?"

Chris Redfield shrugged. "Maybe The Order is using some kind of electromagnetic field of some kind - ?"

Andrea Grey looked at him and said, "There is no such thing in existence, Captain. Besides, an EM field would have negated radios and flashlights, as well."

Leon said, "_Something_ in the fog wants to make life difficult for us, but I'll be damned if I know what."

"I don't know, Leon." Jill gazed into the fog and quietly mused, "Maybe...maybe this fog doesn't follow the same rules that the rest of the world does...!" Jill Valentine had no idea how so very _close_ her thought was to the truth of this nightmare situation.

Finally, the collected personnel in their NBC gear entered the fog on foot. Everyone in the base quietly watched as a minute passed...then two minutes...three...

Hector Hivers looked impatiently at the people from Maine and said, half-joking, "Hey! Just so we know, you're sure GUNS will work in there, right?!" Some laughed in response...

...but Anne Cunningham was deadly serious as she looked at him with bright green eyes and said, "Yeah, we're sure! I hope you can shoot a gun better than you shoot off your _mouth_, mister!"

The raven-haired lady's retort provoked even more laughter...Caroline giggled at Hector's expense too, and he said defensively, "Hey, she wasn't _that_ funny - !"

That was when the screams began from within the fog.

General Earle, Chris, Jill and everyone heard those screams and more, and they felt their blood chill to frigid levels. The popping sound of some kind of gunfire was heard as a voice screamed, _"Fire, fire, fire!"_ The soldiers' suppressed rifles wouldn't have been heard from so far as they fired, but witnesses heard another voice clearly cry for Jesus just before a sudden, thudding explosion was heard...Earle recognized the sound as a grenade detonating. More thudding explosions. A lost, terrified wail, "_Oh fuck, get me out!_ GET ME OUT!" More noises unknowable in context, and worse sounds that could only be called chilling, unearthly, monstrous...more screams of pain and undeniable horror, male and female. Then there came a _tremor_ that made the ground and pavement shake under everyone in the surrounding area...the sound of some tremendous upheaval...and the screams died as Chris Redfield stared into the mist and thought he saw something. He got the impression of a great dark shape just within the fog's boundaries rising up several meters high, and its form seemed..._serpentine_. Part of the shape dipped down and everyone heard a loud, sudden crunching of thick metal in the distance.

Jill was next to Chris, and he heard her ask in a numb, nearly-breathless voice, "Dear god, what kind of monster...?" She saw it, too.

Then the great shape rose up again - it looked different...no...no, it seemed to be holding something big - and Chris Redfield's battle-hardened instincts screamed to him. He began to say, "Jill...General, everyone..." The great shape suddenly lurched back, coiled, and Chris felt more than knew what was about to happen and he barely shouted in time, "GET DOWN!"

And one of the eight-wheeled Army Strykers that had entered the fog _flew_ out of the brackish mist end-over-end like a Matchbox car tossed into the air by a child, and everyone quickly ducked behind the sandbags as the huge vehicle landed on and pulverized some of the abandoned cars and trucks in the southbound lanes. One of the cars' fuel cells broke open and when a burst of sparks was created because metal clashed violently against metal, it detonated in a massive fireball. The blaze quickly spread, and another abandoned car exploded...then another...and another as the Stryker itself burned. The lines of vehicles left behind was turning into an inferno outside of the fog. The fire's light illuminated the fog's cover, making it impossible to see even the shadow of a shape just within, like Chris had before...those behind the sandbag barrier rose again as another sudden tremor came. A sustained rumbling followed and faded to nothing in a few moments.

Heartbeats later, General Earle, Chris, Jill and everyone bearing witness saw something else.

A lone figure stumbled out of the fog on the northbound lanes of Kubrick Street...it looked like it was one of the soldiers of Recon One. The man was still so far away it wasn't clear to those in the base how badly he was hurt; it took someone with a set of binoculars to confirm he didn't seem to be injured or bleeding. Because of the light of the inferno the figure passed closely by, it was clear even from a distance the upper half of his camo-patterned NBC suit had been torn away...he still carried an M4 assault rifle in one hand...and there was something else.

There was something very strange about the soldier's shambling gait...like he wasn't used to the act of walking...

...but no one could have seen that he had a distinctive _hump_ to his back under his uniform...

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	16. Chapter 16

**Reader Warning! Violence and sex are in this chapter, so read with a mature eye, friends! (And as I've said before, there will be many chapters with mature content, and there's more to come...you'll be warned again in the future accordingly!)**

**Chapter 16 is here, and needless to say, a LOT happens! Picking up where we left off, the consequences don't stop after the ill-advised attempt to send soldiers to investigate the fog...and we lose a hero in the process. But there's much, much more: Claire Redfield and Sherry Birkin finally arrive, and this results in some tension that might surprise you!**

**And there's even more! We give some focus to Barry Burton...and just as importantly, we get to meet his wife, _Kathy Burton! _In the history of the RE franchise, as any veteran fan knows, we've only seen Kathy once - yeah, ONCE, and for like ten seconds! - in part of the epilog of RE 3: NEMESIS a long time ago. I figured it's past time we got to meet her and see what kind of lovely lady would marry our favorite gun nut! Picture Bridget Moynahan, who you might know from the Will Smith actioner I, ROBOT and the TV series BLUE BLOODS...heck, Kathy and the real-life Bridget are about the same age!**

**Oh, and as they say in the universe of GRAND THEFT AUTO, Barry and Kathy have some Hot Coffee...ahem! :love:**

**Last but FAR from least, there's a shock ending of this chapter, in which we meet two more late arrivals... ^_^**

**Small SPOILER ALERT!**

**One is Regina, the heroine from the first two games of another Survival Horror series from RESIDENT EVIL creator Shinji Mikami, DINO CRISIS! (This chapter also references the events of DINO CRISIS 2, which General Earle can't talk about!)**

**The second is Rain...yes, that's right, the character created by Michelle Rodriguez in the flawed RE movies!**

**Now please don't give me any flak for adding them to the mix. Like I said, I love Rain...and Regina and the first two DC games ruled; it's been too long since Regina got any love, so I wanted to rectify that! (And hey, DC was Survival Horror made by Capcom like RE, so how could I resist?) And you need not worry: there are reasons for what I do, I *promise*, and you'll see soon enough how well Regina and Rain fit into this story! (For instance, the Rain in the movies was an Umbrella commando; I reinvented her slightly for this story as a covert operator for S.O.R.T. and Regina's protegee and partner...that's the only major difference, though. You'll see she's still a go-getter!)**

**Whew, that IS a lot...and I hope you all enjoy it! Oh, blink and you might miss a reference to the CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE series of games!**

**RESIDENT EVIL X SILENT HILL: JUDGMENT DAY**

**written by Charles Spencer,**  
**inspired by Ygure**

**Chapter 16:**

**"IN THESE MOMENTS BEFORE CERTAIN PERIL..."**

**-1-**

**August 30, 2013**  
**Outside of Black Falls, Vermont**  
**0023 HRS**

**From the forward operating base outside of Black Falls, the personnel had seen a single person walk from the fog.** He appeared to be one of the soldiers of Recon One, a combined task force that tried to infiltrate the town on Presidential Order out of impatience. Something unknowable and terrible seemed to have happened to the task force only moments before, and this lone survivor was feared to be the ultimate result. The armed soldier who had the upper portion of his NBC suit ripped away walked in a strange, uncertain way on Kubrick Street back to the base as vehicle fires raged not far away from him. He was still over 90 yards distant, and it wasn't possible to tell if he was injured or not.

Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy and Sheva Alomar flanked General Beauregard Earle, the commander of Operation: Lightning Strike, which was hastily established to quarantine and then attempt to investigate Black Falls after the remnants of an insane cult, The Order, manifested a supernatural fog to blanket the town and commit evils within the outside world could only imagine. General Earle looked at the approaching figure, and he didn't like what he saw...knowing The Order used some kind of unknown type of parasites to control innocent people, he had good cause to fear the worst. Earle looked at Chris and ordered, "Captain...it might be a good idea for someone to see how that man's doing."

Chris Redfield understood and nodded with a grim expression...he then looked at Leon and asked, "You want to join me, Leon? Give that man a hand?"

Leon's his gaze was fixed on the distant man as he answered, "Sure. Why not?"

Jill Valentine drew close to Chris and told him, "I'm going with you."

Sheva Alomar put a gentle hand on Leon's shoulder. "I will join you, as well."

Together, the four survivors moved with purpose toward the entry point facing the quarantined area, Earle ordered quickly into his radio, "Command to Honey Badger! Move to my position and block the entry into the quarantine area! And I don't care how strange this order is going to sound: target that soldier approaching on foot and be prepared to give fire support to our agents!" A few seconds later another Stryker, an M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicle code-named Honey Badger rolled up to block the entrance...from within, one of the crew already began to target the stumbling soldier with the laser sights of the Predator remote turret on top of the vehicle, which was armed with a M2 Browning .50-caliber machine gun. The general stood not far away from Honey Badger to watch what happened outside so he could order the Stryker to support the agents, just in case. The sentries at their machine gun emplacements on either side of the entrance drew tense as they watched and waited, too.

Several yards into the quarantine area, Chris, Jill, Leon and Sheva stood there and cautiously stared at the shambling figure as he approached. The soldier was still over forty yards away, and he seemed to be putting tremendous effort just traveling in a straight line. Like he wasn't used to the mechanics of walking. His head hung low with every step, as if he couldn't raise it to look forward. As the rest of the personnel behind them in the FOB watched, Chris waited for the man to reach within twenty yards of the base before he shouted, "Hello! We need you to stop for a moment and talk to us, soldier! What just happened?!" The figure didn't stop his stumbling walk...he didn't respond. Chris tried again: "I said sound off, soldier! We need to know what happened!" Silence was Chris' answer...and the man was slowly getting closer. Fifteen yards away.

Chris Redfield's face took a hard set as he slowly drew his pistol, a Lightning Hawk magnum, from the holster on his right hip. Jill, Leon and Sheva realized something was terribly wrong too, and they quickly had their weapons in their hands, as well. Chris pointed his gun at the approaching man as he was only ten yards away...and then the soldier stopped. He never looked forward. His stance was so strange...both Chris and Jill were reminded of the zombies they fought in that mansion in Raccoon Forest so long ago. Chris yelled, no-nonsense, "You have ten seconds to respond to my question, soldier, or you'll be treated as an enemy!" No response. "Five seconds!" Nothing. Chris finally yelled, _"Say something, dammit!"_

Very slowly, the soldier's face finally tilted up to look at Chris and his comrades. His eyes were a bright, crimson red in the darkness of night, and his expression was full of an inhuman, twisted form of hatred. His mouth slowly opened, and the voice that came out couldn't have been called human, more like the gutteral roar of a silverback ape as he shouted, "STAYYY...OOUUTTT!" He raised his M4 assault rifle to hold it in both hands at hip-level and began to aim it -

But that was as far as the possessed soldier got. Chris, Jill, Leon and Sheva fired on the hellish figure, and he shuddered violently as bullets tore into him and blood misted into the air. They all emptied their weapons...and still the possessed soldier stood there, ravaged by dozens of bullets, but somehow still alive...one of his arms had been perforated, but the other holding the rifle wasn't, and he roared again as he started to raise it...

But behind them, General Earle yelled into his radio to the crew of Honey Badger, "LIGHT THAT BASTARD UP!" The gunner inside obeyed the order instantly, and the Stryker's Browning roared a sustained burst of instant death. The .50-caliber shells tore into the man who was already as good as dead, and he lost his rifle along with most of the arm that held it...his torso was perforated as his head exploded, and one of his legs was literally cut off at the knee, which made what was left of the gory figure fall forward to the pavement with a wet thud. The gunner stopped firing as he felt sick to his stomach; he never imagined he'd have to fire on a fellow soldier, even if it was necessary.

That was when Chris and those with him noticed the strange hump on the ravaged soldier's back...it shifted and trembled violently under his uniform, and then it burst out into the night air with a horrid squeal. Leon thought of _Las Plagas_ as he saw with his comrades the black, sluglike thing about a foot long and a little over half that wide; it shifted and pulsed, its glistening skin reflecting the hellish firelight not far away. Without warning, the parasite launched from the body of the soldier it possessed and streaked on the pavement toward the base with shocking speed. It shot past Chris, Jill, Leon and Sheva and moved into the FOB, disappearing momentarily into the shadow under Honey Badger, which couldn't have blockaded such a thing. Earle quickly keyed his radio and yelled, "ALL PERSONNEL, SECURITY ALERT! A HOSTILE CREATURE JUST ENTERED THE BASE!"

As everyone in the base reacted, as alarm klaxons sounded, the parasite moved fast and with an unknowable yet undeniable purpose. Those personnel who saw it responded with sudden fear and anger. Caroline Floyd couldn't believe her eyes as she blurted, "What in the name of - ?!"

BSAA Agent Crispin Jettingham felt revulsion as he said reflexively, "Jesus!" On impulse, he started to chase after it. Hector, Caroline and several others joined the former Green Beret in trying to catch the damn thing.

Chris, Jill, Leon, Sheva and Earle were there then in the FOB. Christine rushed up to Jill and began to ask, "Jill, is that - ?!"

Jill quickly nodded and told the virologist, "Yeah, that must be one of the parasites Rebecca warned us about!"

Christine nodded and said quickly, "I'll be right back!" Then she was gone like a shot, running toward the barracks.

Crispin Jettingham shouted, "Somebody help me get this piece of shit!" Jill looked and saw that a lot of the base's personnel were trying to help him do that already. Many were trying to corral the little monster, trap it in an area about ten yards wide with weight of numbers on all sides so someone could catch it. Some like Jill, Chris, Barry, and Earle could only watch what was happening in semi-disbelief from the throng, it was happening so damned fast. Hector dived for the parasite, but he only fell on his face. Then the thing changed direction on a dime...and it moved toward Crispin at high speed. The BSAA agent grinned as he said, "I've got it, guys! I - !" Unexpectedly, the sluglike creature jumped from the earth, and it hardly lost any speed as it suddenly slapped hard on Crispin's chest. The man felt the thing suction to his chest in spite of his uniform and he cried, "SHIT! Get the hell off - huhh-_uuuhhh!_" Crispin's face was suddenly full of agony as his eyes turned wide and his expression slackened.

Chris yelled, "Crispin?!"

Crispin Jettingham dropped hard to his knees as the parasite fell from his chest and streaked away from him. The man had a sudden, crimson bloom on his shirt that was spreading too quickly as he bled on his uniform...he looked into space and managed to say, "I'll be...damned...!" He pitched forward and fell face-first on the cool grass.

Chris Redfield's mouth dropped open as he and many others stared at the fallen man, horrified. Jill Valentine was galvanized by pure panic and screamed, "MEDIC!"

A big hand gently fell on Jill's shoulder, and she looked around...and then up to see Harley Morris was there; the big man had just arrived with all the commotion, and was looking at her with concern as he said, "I'm here, Jill!" Then the Medical Specialist saw his fallen BSAA comrade and realized. "Crispin...!" He rushed to the fallen man, and a few other soldiers joined him to help somehow...Harley focused as he knelt next to his friend and grunted, "Oh, god! Hold on, buddy...!"

General Earle roared, "SOMEONE KILL THAT DAMN THING!"

At that moment, Hector Hivers made a frantic leap at the creature and damned near fell on top of it...he rolled once to stop as he laid on his back, but he had the parasite clutched in his hands. Hector yelled frantically, "I got it, I GOT IT!" But he held it too close to his damn face, and as he looked up at it, he heard a _snikk!_ and something thin, long and sharp thrusted from the thing, only coming a centimeter away from piercing his eye! In response, Hector panicked and screamed - "YEAGH!" - and tossed the thing away desperately. Again, it hit the grass and streaked away.

Barry looked around impatiently and shouted, "Someone just shoot that little shit!"

But Sheva Alomar said with a strong voice, "No! All of you keep your guns in your holsters!" Her right hand moved and unsheathed a huge, deadly-looking knife from her belt holster...the blade was old, one of the few physical mementos the lady possessed of her parents and her tribe, who were destroyed by Umbrella when she was only a child in Africa. Sheva readied the blade and said, "There are safer ways to deal with this creature!"

At that moment, Caroline Floyd took her turn to catch the parasite...hundreds had collected here by this time and many were honestly cheering her on, urging her to get the slimy thing; she suddenly felt like she was in a sporting event or something. The creature was trapped by the large number of people surrounding it and Caroline...the glistening thing seemed to look at the woman who was slowly, carefully edging closer to it, her stance coiled and ready. Caroline felt herself smile as she got closer, her eyes fixed on the parasite as she said quietly, "C'mon, you little bastard...make a move!" The parasite seemed to respond and moved with nightmarish speed at her...but Caroline pounced like a panther, her lithe body at full extension like a swimmer leaping into a pool, and her outstretched, slender hands grabbed hold of the thing and pinned it down on its slimy back. Caroline felt like cheering like most of the onlookers were as she screamed, "GOT IT! I'VE GOT IT!"

"So do I!" Sheva Alomar was suddenly there, her tribal blade gripped in both of her hands. She said to Caroline, "Please don't move!"

Caroline quickly understood and froze. "I won't, don't worry!"

At that moment, among the throng, Christine Yamata finally returned to Jill with something in her hands and asked quickly, "Did they get it?!"

Christine looked where Jill was gazing in time to see Sheva drop to one knee and plunge her blade into the parasite between Caroline's hands as she held it down, the hideously sharp steel driving deep into the ground like a tent peg. And it screamed with a piercing SHREEEEK!

Jill smiled and said, "I'd say they did! Christine, where - !"

Christine blurted, "I had to get the Genesis!" She held the small, boxy viral scanner in her hands firmly. "If we can't take equipment like this with us into the fog, at least I can use it here! I need to scan that parasite before it dies - !"

Chris Redfield was there and he said quickly, "Then don't talk about it, Yamata! Just do it!"

Christine nodded. "Yessir!" She moved over to Sheva and Caroline fast...

...but the two women were staring at the creature they had caught and literally pinned to the earth. Sheva breathed quietly, "My god...!"

Caroline felt as much sudden fear as she stared at the thing, as well...she got a really good look at it and murmured, "What the hell...?"

Christine was there with them then, and she directed the Genesis on the creature and simply squeezed a trigger...a unique radiation harmlessly bombarded the monster, and the device immediately began its scanning process as it was designed to. But Christine felt a sudden chill in her blood as she looked at the parasite and she had to observe with an unsure voice, "Uhh, is it just me, or does that look like a human face?"

Sheva said, "It's not just you, Christine." The parasite was on its back, and its underside was studded by small suction cups, like what would have been found on the tentacles of a squid; each cup had what seemed to be a hook that helped secure the thing to its intended host. But that wasn't as disturbing as what was most prominent on the creature's underside. They saw it had a face, but like Christine said, it was so strangely human in far too many ways. It had beady eyes that were pinched shut from agony as its wide, open mouth hissed under a flat yet distinct nose...its slender, sharp proboscis stretched desperately from its maw like a tongue. In fact, Sheva said with elemental disquiet, "It...it almost looks like an _infant's_ face...!"

Chris, Jill, Leon and General Earle were there then as Christine heard a chime from the Genesis. She smiled and said, "Scan complete! Talk to me, little guy...!" Information suddenly appeared on its green viewscreen, as if the device answered her...but Christine looked at the results and frowned. She said, "Scan results are negative for viral infection." She quickly reset the device, aimed it at the creature, and squeezed the trigger a second time as she announced, "Scanning again!"

Chris asked, "Is there something wrong with that device - ?"

Christine quickly said, "No, Captain! I performed diagnostics on the Genesis both before we left Washington and after we landed here! I always make sure it's operating perfectly before a mission...!" Her voice trailed off as she focused fully on scanning the creature...but the thing had fallen still. It was dead.

But more than that was happening as Leon looked at the parasite and said, "The thing's starting to disintegrate...look at that!" And it was...the sluglike thing was smoking as its body began to burst and melt like it was put in a microwave oven. It was turning into an ugly, unrecognizable sludge in the grass, and Sheva quickly pulled her tribal blade from it; she wiped both sides of the steel quickly on the ground, and it wasn't damaged.

Christine said, "Scan complete." She managed to get that as the parasite died...but she looked at the information on the green display, and she shook her head softly as she saw it was the same as before. Christine looked at Chris and Jill and reported quietly, "Results are negative again." Chris and Jill looked back at her with confusion.

General Earle asked, "What exactly does that mean, Yamata? You sound surprised!"

Christine Yamata lowered her Genesis and looked fully at the military commander...she said apprehensively, "Sir, every bio-organic weapon ever created has _always_ been the result of the infection of a creature by an engineered viral strain, like the T-Virus. We've been going under the suspicion that The Order is using B.O.W.s, but there was no sign of a virus in that parasite. I don't know what that thing was or where it came from, but...it was _normal_."

Jill shook her head softly and felt the need to say, "But we've never seen anything like that creature before!"

Sheva Alomar said, "That has changed, obviously. Either these things have lived in this world without our knowledge until now..." The warrior woman glanced at the sludge, and her expression became even more thoughtful as she finished, "...or they came from somewhere else."

Chris Redfield frowned. "Sheva?" There was something about the way the woman who was once his partner said that...and really letting her words sink in, he had to wonder, too...

"Guys." Harley Morris was there, and everyone saw him as he held a body limply in his big arms...it was Crispin Jettingham, BSAA agent and former Green Beret. Harley expression was full of grief as he said to them, "Crispin's dead. That thing...it penetrated his chest, pierced his heart with something, and..." Harley looked down at the dead man he cradled in his arms, a comrade and friend, and finished quietly, "C-Crispin is dead."

Everyone there was affected instantly...reactions ran from shock to sadness to vengeful anger. Christine raised a slender hand to her lips and began to weep mournfully as she realized her friend was dead...Jill Valentine gently moved to her, held Christine from behind to give the girl solace...Chris Redfield's fists clenched as he felt quiet fury...no one reacted lightly to this tragic, unexpected death.

General Earle looked on for a beat and quietly nodded. "All right." He turned around to the fog, to the blaze burning just outside of it, and he repeated again thickly, "All _right_." The bastards want them to stay out, huh? He turned back to those under his command and said in a loud voice, "Redfield, Kennedy, you had better have your teams ready by the time Birkin gets here and joins you. I've got a call to make."

Leon S. Kennedy asked, "To who, sir?"

Earle didn't look back as he shouted, "Just get your shit together, all of you! You'll know when the time comes!"

In a couple of minutes, General Beauregard Earle was in his command tent...his media liasion and longtime comrade, Andrea Grey, arrived just in time to see him on his phone as he sat behind his desk. The military man said into it, "Hello? Yes, this is an encrypted line. I know you're still reforming your group after that shitstorm that happened three years ago, but I'm in the middle of a nightmare here in Black Falls, Vermont. Yeah." Andrea watched quietly as Earle listened and then said, "I just lost a lot of good people to a goddamn meat grinder, and if I want anyone else I send in there to survive, I need the very best to support them." A pause. "You know who I mean, so tell me right now.

_"Is she available?"_

**-2-**

**0056 HRS**

Hours ago in Washington, D.C., just after he volunteered to help Chris and Jill save Rebecca Chambers, Barry Burton needed to make a call. He would have felt like a criminal if he didn't tell the most important person in the world to him what he was going to do. He also knew he was going to catch a lot of hell from that person, but some things couldn't be avoided. The big man only had to wait a couple of rings before he heard the lovely voice say, "Hello?"

Barry answered, "Hi, honey."

His wife, Kathy Burton, answered with delight, "Hi, Barry! How are things in Washington?"

"Everything's okay, Kathy. But...uh, there's a situation."

"What situation?"

Barry already felt his very being brace... "Ah, before I go into it, please don't get mad at me. Please?"

Kathy's voice was full of worry...and increasing impatience. "They way you ask that, I'm afraid I'm going to get angry anyway! Just tell me what's wrong!"

"Something's come up, and I need to help Chris and Jill take care of it."

"Barry, I don't understand, take care of what?"

"Uh..." Barry knew he had to walk into the figurative minefield sooner or later. "Kathy, I'm sorry. It's something serious."

A pause that felt like forever...and Kathy asked, "How serious?"

Barry Burton closed his eyes and said, "As serious as what happened in that mansion in Raccoon Forest."

Over all of their years together, in spite of the terrible things that threatened to consume their family, the love between Barry and Kathy Burton didn't fade by even an iota. But even in the best of marriages, there had to be moments of discord. Disagreements, misunderstandings, lack of communication and other formidable obstacles can seriously test the love between two souls. Such a moment had come as Kathy suddenly started shouting angrily over the phone from their home in Billings, Montana, asking Barry what the hell was wrong with him. Kathy asked hotly, "Are you suddenly bored with the peaceful life we've had?! It's been fifteen years since you almost died in Raccoon Forest, why do you want to commit suicide _now?!_" Barry tried to get a word in edgewise, but even at long-distance, his wife's anger made the man-mountain feel like a meek pussycat...he barely managed to tell her where he was going with Chris and Jill, to a small town in Vermont she never even heard of, and very little else. Finally, Barry got defensive as he became angry too, and he flatly told Kathy he made up his mind and she couldn't change it...but the moment he said that, he knew he'd made a HUGE mistake and he was right because his wife became furious. More unfortunate, incendiary words were exchanged like tracer fire until Kathy suddenly hung up on him. Barry called back, repeatedly, but he never got an answer. Yeah...she was furious. The man-mountain did his best to set this personal crisis aside as he joined Chris, Jill, and many others as they left the BSAA offices.

About two hours ago, Chris Redfield told Barry his wife was coming.

Barry could only fear the worst...and just before 1 A.M., the Black Hawk arrived from Burlington International Airport with a very special passenger. General Earle wasn't crazy about the idea of the wife of an 'advisor' to the infiltration mission paying him some kind of visit at the base, but all things considered he had bigger problems to worry about, and so just let it happen. Barry Burton waited for her in a conference room in the barracks, alone...the 43-year-old weapons expert, veteran survivor and police chief who had survived the treachery of his former commander, Albert Wesker, and fought many bio-engineered terrors and barely escaped the devastation of Raccoon City paced back and forth anxiously as he wondered how hard the other shoe was going to drop.

"Barry!" The man-mountain turned quickly to the voice he instantly recognized, and he saw his wife in the open doorway, a uniformed soldier accompanying her as escort. The grunt nodded to Barry and quietly left them both alone and closed the door behind him; Chris Redfield requested very simply that the two be left alone until the husband and wife were done with their business, and most everyone in the barracks already put a lot of space between themselves and the conference room. Kathy Burton was an absolute vision, a slender, captivating brunette whose long black hair fell just past her shoulders...in her early forties, she had become even more beautiful than when Barry first met her 22 years ago, when he was earning his wings in the U.S. Air Force and she was a college student with the ambition of becoming a teacher. The lady wore a short-sleeved, denim dress with a wide leather belt, along with complementing black cowboy boots. It was a western style of wear Kathy took to after she, Barry and their children moved to Montana to start a new life a decade ago, when they were sure the Umbrella Corporation no longer existed and they were safe.

In so many ways, Kathy Burton was as much a survivor in her own right as her husband. She had to be when Kathy and their daughters, Moira and Polly, had to hide out in Canada for about five years as Barry and his friends collected evidence to bring down Umbrella for their bio-weapons experiments. First and foremost, though, Kathy was a lady of elemental patience and pure grace, which served her well when she taught Fifth Grade English in a grade school in Billings. That grace was clear and present, yet her expression was full of apprehension as Kathy's wide eyes looked at her husband anxiously, her hands clutching her leather handbag tightly in front of her...her lovely red lips parted, but the lady was hesitant to say anything more.

Barry frowned as he looked at his beautiful wife...he was also unsure of what to say as they both felt an invisible energy charge the air between them. "Kathy...I...!" But Kathy suddenly rushed to him as her handbag dropped to the floor and just like that, they were in each other's arms...well, they got halfway there. Kathy couldn't get her thin arms around her mountain of a husband's broad form, but Barry gently held his wife in his big arms easily, and she relaxed into him needfully. They felt each other's warmth, and stayed that way for a long, quiet moment. Barry felt so much relief and finally broke the silence...he said, "I thought the first thing you'd do was slap me or something."

Kathy clutched at her husband's red ballistic vest as she felt his arms around him...she always felt so perfectly, wondrously safe in those big arms. "You know me better than that, honey. I love you more than the whole world..." She gently began to push away from Barry's chest, and he relaxed his hold and began to step back. And then Kathy Burton surprised Barry by suddenly shoving into his chest with both hands...he was stunned as he looked down at his wife's angry eyes and she finished, "...but I'm still angry with you, dammit!"

Barry began to say, "Kathy, I'm - !"

But the lady who was over a foot shorter than he was and nowhere near half his size made the veteran survivor flinch when she pointed at him harshly and shouted, "Don't you DARE say you're sorry, you'll just get me angrier! Barry, what are you thinking?! Don't you remember the promise you made to me? To our girls? After Umbrella was finally brought down and we got our lives back years ago, you promised you'd never get involved with the kind of nightmare horrors that destroyed Raccoon City! Do I need to remind you?"

Barry looked down self-consciously. "No...no, you don't have to remind me." Although...it had always been a source of regret for the big man that he wasn't with Jill and Chris to help them when they investigated Umbrella's last secret stronghold, a B.O.W. research and production facility in Russia in 2003. His friends destroyed the hellish bio-organic weapon T-ALOS and finally exposed Umbrella's evils, which ensured the corporation's downfall. After everything his family was put through in the name of insane, reckless greed, he wished he had been involved with that.

Kathy's voice was full of emotion as she said, "You made that promise so our girls would always have their father. So we'd have something like a normal life, remember?"

He still couldn't get up the nerve to look into his wife's angry eyes. "I remember, Kathy."

But then Barry did look at Kathy when she asked loudly, desperately, "Then why are we HERE, Barry?! We're right outside of a town taken over by...by...!" She shook her head. "I don't know what's going on, and I don't _want_ to know! A-and I just heard on the news some soldiers died trying to investigate that fog...!"

Barry held up his hands in a 'settle down' gesture as he tried to say, "Take it easy, Kathy, please - "

But the brunette's eyes bored into the big man like lasers as she yelled, "_Don't tell me to take it easy!_ Help me understand why! Please! I...I thought you said Chris and Jill would be okay without you after Umbrella went down. Didn't they want us to have a normal life, too?"

Barry quickly told his wife, "They did, and none of that's changed, darling. They didn't want me to help them. I'm the one who wanted to be here. I told Chris I'd knock him into next week if he didn't let me get involved."

Kathy's bright eyes cooled a little, but she still needed to understand. "Barry...!"

Then the big man asked, "You know Rebecca, right? Rebecca Chambers?"

Taken off her guard, Kathy nodded. "O-of course I do! I swear, that girl brings sunshine no matter where she goes!"

Barry told her, "I'm here to help Rebecca, Kathy. She's in Black Falls."

Kathy's eyes were full of shock. "Sh-she is?! Oh, my god...!"

He nodded sourly. "She's in there helping this lady, Cheryl Mason. They wanted to stop the assholes who made this fog happen." Barry took a step closer to his wife again and carefully put his big hands on her shoulders as she looked up at him. "Kathy, I'm not here because I wanted to break any promise or make you upset. I'm not crazy! I know full and well how you feel about my getting involved in anything like the shit that upended our lives before. But Rebecca's a friend to us both, I was given the chance to help Chris and Jill make her safe again, but I'm as afraid as a lot of people that this is bigger than that." The man-mountain looked upon his beloved wife with worry. "I know this situation's a long way from normal, but there's thousands of people in that town in danger...and what if this gets worse? What if this gets even bigger and threatens you and our girls? I'm here to do both the right thing and the best thing." Barry looked down and closed his eyes as he held his wife's shoulders. "Please tell me you understand."

Kathy Burton stared at her husband with wide eyes as she really took in his words...she bit her lower lip, her face full of emotion...and she finally said softly, "I do understand, Barry." She raised a slender hand to her chest as she thought of what kind of man her husband was. Ever since his childhood his hero had been another truly big man, The Duke himself, John Wayne...he once told Kathy, who also loved the actor and his movies, that he wanted to live his life like The Duke once said in one of his films: _A man oughtta do what he thinks is best._ And part of why she loved Barry so completely was he never strayed from that way for a moment, even when it hurt, even when he had to follow the orders of Albert Wesker to keep Kathy and their daughters safe years ago. It was a constant about Barry Burton that couldn't ever change, to always do what he believed was best.

Kathy repeated, "I understand..." But then her slender right hand lifted from her chest to slap her husband in the face, which was what the big man feared she'd do in the first place! The strike wasn't hard - it wasn't meant to be - but it shocked Barry enough he might as well have been hit by a punch, and he rocked back a step. The man-mountain reflexively touched his furry cheek and stared at Kathy Burton, who had her hands on her slender hips as she said hotly, "...but you STILL broke your promise, you big oaf!"

Yeah, there was still that. Barry looked at his amazing wife lamely and tried to say, "Kathy, I never told you I was perfect - !"

The brunette said unkindly, "Well, that goes without saying!"

That hurt worse than the slap, and Barry began defensively, "Hey - !"

But he instantly fell silent as Kathy Burton's lovely face shifted quickly to naked, elemental worry...she said thickly, "Barry, I'm so frightened for you. _My world would end if I lost you._ I...I'd want to die if you..." The lady couldn't say anymore as she trembled, and her eyes shone brightly as she fought the urge to cry.

Barry Burton looked down upon his wife solemnly and said gently, "Darling, I may not be perfect, but I know better than to die on you. You'd _really_ get mad at me then, and that's the last thing I want!"

Kathy looked up at him with hope and asked carefully, "Y-you promise?"

Barry smiled reassuringly as he drew close, reached out and softly touched his wife's cheek with a big, loving hand. "I made that particular promise a long time ago, and I'd never, ever break it. You won't lose me. I swear you won't."

Kathy lifted her trembling hand to touch Barry's as he caressed her cheek...she smiled as her wet eyes looked at him. "I love you, Barry...god, I love you so much."

The man-mountain nodded solemnly. "I love you too, Kathy. You're everything. You always will be."

Kathy asked quietly, "When will you have to go?"

Barry frowned. "I'm not sure. Things might have changed after the snafu involving the loss of that task force we tried to send in." He couldn't gather the strength to tell Kathy that he watched another man die in front of him in the base because of one of the terrors from that fog. It would only have worried her even more. "It could be an hour or two, maybe right after Agent Birkin gets here...it's up to the people in charge."

Kathy nodded. "Okay. I've got a promise to make to you too, honey." He raised his eyebrows, and his wife began, "We've been talking about finally giving the girls a baby sister...or a brother."

Barry looked at her, curious. "Uh-huh?" Ever since Moira and Polly moved out of the house to go to college not long ago, their parents didn't like the fact their nest was so empty. They thought it would be a source of relief to see their daughters go, to grow up and away from them, but...it wasn't.

Kathy smiled and said, "You come back to me alive, and we'll start trying to make that happen. In fact..." The lady's smile began to turn naughty. "...I promise if you return to me, the first chance we get, I'll make love to you like a _wildcat_."

Barry began to feel very, very warm. "Oh, yeah?"

The lady purred, "Yeah...scratches and all."

"Hmmm." The expression in his eyes became full of desire. Carefully, he offered, "Maybe...there's no time like the present?"

Kathy blinked with surprise. "You mean now...?" She looked away awkwardly for a moment as his offer sank in...but then her beautiful face also expressed a primal need for the man she loved more than life itself. "Um...is there anywhere in this base for us to...well...?"

The big man was also nervous as he told her, "Actually, we have this room." It was a simple conference room with a big table and several chairs set around it, and nothing else. "Chris said we wouldn't be interrupted, and I've got no reason to doubt that." He shrugged and added, "I think as long as we're quick...!"

The brunette suddenly reached up with both hands, grabbed the armholes of her husband's vest, and pulled to make him bend over enough so she could kiss him. They closed their eyes as her tongue reached into his mouth and found his with ravenous desire, and for a long, slow, deep moment they were both overtaken, almost drowning in the blissful sensation. The moment passed too soon when Kathy broke the kiss and they both had to catch their breath, but the lady kept Barry in his bent-over position. Her mouth moved quickly to his ear, and she whispered a fast, desperate suggestion to the big man for what they should do next. Kathy pulled back a little to look at Barry's face, and she saw he liked her suggestion...in fact, he felt himself stiffen and flush in his pants.

The lady stepped back as Barry Burton pulled those pants and the briefs under them down to his ankles...his wife bit her lower lip as she saw how hard he had become as he sat in a nearby chair. The man-mountain sat where he was, and he stared as his wife's slender hands moved to lift up the skirt of her denim dress seductively...her needful eyes fixed upon him in a wondrous, sultry way when more of her bare, perfect legs were exposed as her hands reached under the hem. Unseen, her thumbs hooked into the band of her panties, and in a deliberately slow motion, Kathy Burton's lithe body bent over and she pulled her panties down her legs and they pooled at the ankles of her cowboy boots...her eyes never left his for a moment, even when she stood up straight and she stepped from the panties, leaving them behind.

Kathy was there before Barry and gazing down into his eyes as he sat, and she placed her hands on his shoulders. Barry's big hands moved and softly held his wife's waist, and he lifted her a little and held her over his lap. He slowly lowered her as she straddled his crotch, which became obscured by her skirt; the muscles in her legs and her inner thighs became taut with anticipation. He stopped and it took little effort for her to hover over him as one of his hands moved under her and her skirt to steady and guide himself...and she lowered further until, as much from instinct as feel his thick, hardened shaft slowly slid into her. It was still a source of wonder for Kathy how big her husband was, even after 22 years married to him, and he filled her lovingly as she breathed, "Barry...oh, Barry...ohh...!" They began to make love then as he held her waist and helped her rise and fall upon him, and she moaned with each breath as her slender arms wrapped around her husband's head and held him tight as she rode him. These moments were quiet yet full of erotic fire...if someone walked in on them during that time, it would have meant justifiable embarrassment, but neither of them cared about that. Barry and Kathy Burton loved each other deeply, had been through hell together before, and the trials they faced for their daughters only made their love stronger...and in this time before Barry had to go into the fog and brave unknowable yet certain peril, he and Kathy needed to express what they felt for each other in this primal, perfect way when they still had the chance.

A few minutes passed, and Kathy's beautiful face was slack in expression as she seemed to be in the throes of an intense dream...her eyes were squeezed shut and she whimpered breathlessly as she clutched her husband's head, her fingers combing into his red hair; Barry's moans were muffled with his face in his wife's breasts as she rose and fell. She suddenly trembled and he felt his lap become moist as his wife climaxed, and the man-mountain didn't give a damn about being quick about this. He tried his best to hold back so she could feel that ecstacy as many times as possible. By the time Kathy experienced orgasm a third time only a couple of minutes later, though, Barry had to let go, too...she cried out breathlessly and shuddered as he fired into her. Her body descended upon his lap and he filled her completely...they both slowly relaxed and breathed together.

Finally, Kathy relaxed her hold of her husband's head and pulled back a little to look at him. She said between breaths, "By the way...my promise still stands...you hear me?"

Barry looked into his wife's eyes and managed, "You mean, when...when I come back...?"

The lady nodded enthusiastically. "The first chance we get...like a wildcat."

"Then...it's a date. Because I _will_ come back to you." Barry Burton's expression became solemn. "I love you, Kathy."

Kathy Burton cradled her husband's furry face in her hands and said with total devotion, "I love you too, Barry." Her face drew close to his and they closed their eyes again as they kissed deeply, as he stayed inside of her...

**-3-**

**0212 HRS**

Chris Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy stood together as they watched the squadron of Black Hawks arrive, and they weren't alone as the rest of the BSAA and DSO agents collected around the helipad with impatient anticipation. One of the gunships descended and touched down...after a moment, two women stepped out of the side of the vehicle, holding hands. One was an athletic brunette with a ponytail, and the other was a shorter blonde girl who seemed almost like a waif at first glance. Hector Hivers asked no one in particular, "So which one's supposed to be Agent Birkin?" He had never even seen her before.

Fellow DSO agent Marissa Ronson said in her native British accent, "The blonde girl."

Hector did a double-take at Marissa. "What? THAT little slip of a thing?! I doubt she'd be a hundred pounds soaking wet!" Many of the BSAA agents also looked surprised.

Jill Valentine gave Hector a look and said, "Leon wanted her for this mission, remember? She has to be special." But as the women got closer to Leon and Chris, Jill got a good look at the brunette and recognized her. "Wait a minute...my god, that's - !"

Chris Redfield almost breathed in astonishment, "Claire!" There was no doubt about who the brunette was as Claire Redfield approached alongside Sherry Birkin.

Sienna Fowler looked at Jill, surprised. "Holy shit, Captain Redfield's _sister?_ Why the heck is she here?"

Jill shook her head. "I don't know!"

The new arrivals reached Leon and Chris...Sherry beamed at them both with a brilliant smile and greeted, "Hi, Leon! Hi, Chris!"

Leon shook the blonde's hand. "Sherry, I'm sorry again for calling on such short notice."

Sherry shook her head. "It's okay, really...!"

Claire looked at Leon and then Chris and quietly nodded. "Hi, guys."

Chris stared at his younger sibling. "Claire, what are you doing here?"

Claire looked at Sherry and answered, "I was with Sherry at the time she got the call from Leon. Whatever is going on, I'm here to help."

Chris frowned deeply. "Claire, that's not a good idea. You have no idea what the situation is."

Leon added, "As a matter of fact, none of us know! We need Sherry, but - !"

Sherry took a step toward Leon as she squeezed Claire's hand. "Leon, it'll be all right. We both know Claire can handle herself!"

Chris still frowned, as he said in a sterner voice, "We're going to need to talk to the general about this. Let's go." He turned and began to leave the others...

...who looked after him with more than a little surprise. Leon said, "Chris, that isn't necessary! We can - !"

Chris turned around, looked coolly at his sister, and said in a pure-business tone, "If you want to be a part of this, Claire, follow me!"

Leon and Sherry looked at Claire with concern...but the brunette looked back at her brother with a quietly troubled expression.

**-4-**

Within the command tent. General Earle walked from behind his desk as his eyes fixed purely on Claire, who stood next to Sherry before him as Chris and Leon stood at the side. Earle stared into the eyes of the lady with the ponytail and began: "I know your history as much as I know your brother's, Miss Redfield. Fifteen years ago you, Kennedy and Birkin survived the outbreak of Raccoon City...and then you went with your brother, Kennedy, Valentine and Burton on that vigilante crusade collecting evidence against Umbrella while Birkin was put in protective custody." Earle suddenly frowned. "With all due respect, you were only 18 years old at the time! What the hell made you or Kennedy or _your own brother_ think it was a good idea to put you at that kind of risk?"

Claire Redfield didn't hesitate to answer as Sherry looked at her with admiration. "To be blunt, General, we were angry with Umbrella for what they did to Raccoon City. Their bio-weapons research killed over a hundred-thousand people, and we barely escaped the terrors that corporation made with our lives. We all wanted to bring an end to them so they'd never hurt anyone else, and my age didn't matter. I could hold my own with Leon, Chris and the others because my brother taught me everything he learned from the military about how to survive."

Earle nodded. "You must have been a truly brave young lady."

Sherry Birkin said quietly, "She still is, sir."

Earle shot a glance at the blonde girl as Claire blushed a little. The general focused on Claire again and said, "But after that you went to college to take courses in business management, and then you began to devote yourself to Terrasave, a humanitarian organization dedicated to helping the victims of bio-warfare."

Claire looked at him. "And...?"

"Well, you did a good job fighting the good fight. Why turn away from that to join an activist cause?"

Claire answered, "The way I saw it, I never stopped fighting, General. After everything I had been through from Raccoon City to Rockport Island to Antarctica, I wanted to find a peaceful way to bring an end to bio-organic weapons."

Chris growled in a quiet tone, "There's only one way to stop those monsters."

Earle turned sharply to look hard at the BSAA captain. "Do you have something to say, Redfield?"

Taken aback, Chris quickly said, "No, sir."

"Then shut the hell up, because I'm talking to your sister!" After that quick dressing down, Earle turned to Claire again. "A more peaceful way, you said?"

Claire nodded. "Yessir."

Earle frowned. "Then I guess you disagree with what organizations like the BSAA and the DSO do to stop bio-terrorism? You don't approve of military solutions to stop B.O.W.s for the sake of saving innocent lives in our country and across the world?"

Claire Redfield's eyes widened as she looked at Earle with genuine surprise. "_No_, sir! It's just..." The lady's beautiful face expressed a jolt of sadness she didn't even try to hide as she remembered Antarctica. And Steve Burnside. "...I had seen too much blood and death, and I simply wanted to find a better way. That's all," she finished softly.

Earle nodded, his gaze upon Claire respectful. "All right. But now you want to join Birkin and this operation? Why?"

Claire said, "Because I want to help Sherry and my brother. I still practice most everything my brother taught me every day to keep myself fit and ready just in case the worst happens. Those skills definitely helped me at one point during the Harvardville Incident a few years ago, sir."

Earle nodded again. "I know all about that." At first glance, it seemed to be a bio-terrorist action that transformed Harvardville International Airport into a zombified hot zone, but the truth behind the crisis became far more complicated. Claire was trapped in the airport at the time and fortunately reunited with Leon S. Kennedy, and together they survived and escaped that nightmare like they did Raccoon City. "You think you still have the ability to support an infiltration of Black Falls, even though we have no idea what we're dealing with?"

Claire Redfield said, unwavering, "I know I can be of help if given the chance, sir."

Suddenly, her brother declared, "General, with all due respect, I must advise against this!"

Everyone in the tent looked at him...Earle asked, "Why?"

Chris stared at Claire. "She's clearly got a personal stake in this because of her relationship with Sherry!"

Claire started to get angry. "Of course I'm here for Sherry, but I said I'm here to help you, too!"

Her brother said flatly, "Really? If you honestly wanted to help me, _you wouldn't have walked away from me and the fight years ago_. You're changing your mind just for Sherry, so don't try to make me think any differently!"

As everyone in the command tent watched with surprise, as Sherry Birkin stared with wide eyes full of awkward worry, Claire Redfield turned fully to her brother and snarled, "Oh, yeah?! YOU'RE a fine one to tell me I walked away from a damn thing! You left me and our family behind to go on your oh-so-holy crusade against bioterrorists!" She stabbed a finger at Chris, who had an awkward expression as she said loudly, "And what about those six months you spent on a _pub crawl_ across Europe after you got hurt?! Your family was worried about you, Chris! _I was worried about you - !_"

General Beauregard Earle suddenly exploded, _"Am I really fucking hearing this?!"_ He suddenly had Chris and Claire's undivided attention. "I mean, am I REALLY? We're in the middle of a crisis with over twenty-thousand lives on the line, and I'm not in the mood to hear a fucking sibling spat IN MY OWN GODDAMN COMMAND TENT! If you two keep going with this bullshit, I'll call in some soldiers and HAVE THEM SHOOT SOMEBODY! AM I CLEAR?!"

Claire quickly said, "Y-yessir!"

Chris nodded. "Yes, sir."

Earle lifted a hand to rub his forehead vigorously and get rid of the headache he suddenly felt. It didn't help, and that didn't help his mood. He lowered his hand and stared at the brother and sister hard. "If EITHER of you want to be a part of this fucking mission, I WANT YOU FOCUSED ONLY ON THE MISSION! Now, will either of you have a problem doing that?!"

Cowed, Claire said earnestly, "No, sir."

Chris was still frowning. "No, sir."

Earle then turned to the DSO senior agent. "Kennedy! You know this lady as well as her brother does, but I hope I can count on you to be impartial! Do you believe Claire Redfield has the experience and skill necessary to join this mission?"

A tense moment passed as Leon S. Kennedy suddenly found himself in an uncomfortable position. The brother and sister were both dear friends to him. If Claire got what she wanted, she'd be going with them to face unknowable hazards. But he knew Claire well...he trusted her with his life, and so could others. Leon hoped and prayed he was making the right call when he finally said: "Yes, General! Claire Redfield would definitely be of help to us."

There were no neutral reactions. Claire's expression was full of gratitude as she gazed at Leon and nodded deeply...Sherry Birkin smiled even brighter as her petite posture relaxed with relief and she held Claire's hand...but Chris was thunderstruck, his outraged eyes staring at the DSO agent. Chris began to say, "Leon - !"

But Leon said, "General Earle had a point before, Chris! Claire risked her life to work with us years ago, yet she more than held her own! What's changed?"

Sherry then looked at Chris and asked innocently, "Yes...what's changed?"

Chris looked at Claire, his face a mix of emotions, and he wanted to say something...but Earle nodded and declared, "Okay...but the LAST goddamn thing I want is to have any friction between you and your brother cause any distractions during this mission! If you are going, then you and Birkin will be assigned to Kennedy's team!" He looked at Claire and Chris and asked, "Will either of you have any reservations about that arrangement?!"

Claire quickly said, "No, sir!"

Clearly in a dark mood, Chris finally said, "...No, General."

Earle then focused on Claire with his hard eyes...and after a beat, he judged, "All right...you're a part of the mission, Miss Redfield."

Claire Redfield smiled and nodded. "Thank you, sir!"

But Earle quickly said, "Don't thank me! You wanted the chance to be thrown into a hornet's nest, and I gave it to you. Don't you dare thank me for that. If it wasn't for you having a unique skillset and experience in extraordinary situations, I wouldn't even have given a thought to you being a part of this! Hmf...I'll have to designate you as an advisor too, like Barry Burton and those people from Maine." He turned from Claire to move back to his desk as he growled, "Never seen a mission have so many goddamn advisors in my life." Behind his desk, Earle looked at Leon, Sherry, Claire and Chris. "No matter how experienced you or anyone else on this mission will be, I've got enough doubts that any of you will survive what's waiting for you in that fog! Fortunately, I know how to stack the deck before I make a gamble...so you're all on notice that I'm bringing in someone who can put the odds in your favor, like Kennedy thought of Birkin."

Sherry looked at him, curious. "What do you mean, sir?"

"Actually, it's who I mean, Agent Birkin - !" Then Earle's phone rang, and he picked it up. "What?" A pause. "Good! Have them both brought to me the moment they land!" He hung up his phone and looked at Leon. "Kennedy, have you ever heard of the Special Operations Raid Team, also known as S.O.R.T.?"

Leon frowned a little, surprised by the question. "I have, sir, but only through rumors. I tend to hear a lot as an operative for the President himself."

Outside, in the darkness of this early morning, a single Black Hawk approached the base...no one at the helipad was prepared for its arrival, so no attention would be drawn to it, in spite of its extraordinary occupants.

Earle asked, "So what did you hear, Kennedy?"

Leon shook his head as the others listened. "Nothing harmful, only that they're an off-the-grid black ops organization. They specialized in fast-action recon of hostile territory to secure high-value targets and information. The last I heard, unofficially, S.O.R.T. got disbanded three years ago."

Earle nodded, satisfied. "Fortunately, you don't even know half of the story, Kennedy. Three years ago, a clusterfoul of epic proportions happened that I can't tell you about, except it involved every agent of S.O.R.T. It got so bad _only one agent_, the best of them all, survived the incident. Ever since, she's been leading the rebuilding of S.O.R.T. when she isn't busy serving our country in the most secret of operations across the planet. She's the one I thought of for your infiltration of Black Falls."

The helicopter touched down, and two people stepped from its side...two women who moved anonymously amongst the rest of the base personnel toward the command tent.

Earle continued: "Think of this lady as a ghost, because that's exactly what she was trained to be by the best Tier One operators from our special forces since she was fifteen years old. If you want to know why she began training so young, don't ask, because the reasons are classified. In brief, she was conditioned for years to become a living phantom: to clear any and every obstacle in her path to reach her target and do it undetected, whether that target is critical intelligence, a high-value hostage, or an enemy who needs to be captured...or terminated. You can put her in the worst, most hostile territory to get what you want, and all the enemy would see of her was her shadow. And if the worst happens, she won't leave a single enemy alive in her wake. The lady has had a _100-percent success record_ in her missions, even the one in which every one of her colleagues in S.O.R.T. were killed...she could have died too, but she's too damn good to let something like death get in her way. And as a bonus, people, her _protegee_ is accompanying her here...and if you guess the student is as bad-ass as her mentor, you guess correctly even though she's still a little rough around the edges. If you want to know anything else about them, too damn bad. I can't even tell you their real names or anything else that might compromise them...let's just say if I did, I'd be obligated to shoot you, _and I'm not joking about that_."

A soldier appeared at the entrance of the command tent. He saluted and said, "General? There are visitors here to see you, sir!"

Earle nodded. "Then let them in, boy!" The soldier quickly stepped outside again...

...and as Leon, Sherry, Claire, and Chris watched with Earle, two women entered carrying duffels of equipment with them.

One was a tall redheaded woman with a curvaceous yet athletic body sheathed in a unique uniform of black and gray. She appeared to be in her late thirties, her skin as pale and smooth as an alabaster sculpture. Her hair was as vibrant as a strawberry's skin, cut in an elegant yet disciplined bob. The features of her attractive face were soft and gentle except for her almond-shaped eyes, which reflected a subdued, undeniable strength.

The other was a younger Hispanic-American lady dressed in a jet-black uniform that in appearance was more paramilitary in comparison to the redhead's. Her hair was also black as night, pulled tight and braided in the back, except for long locks that fell casually on either side of her pretty face...she had distinctive, strong cheekbones and full lips, and her brown eyes were accented by bold eyebrows. There seemed to be an edgy, restless aura to this girl, like she was full of aggressive energy.

Earle nodded at them both and announced, "Everyone, the reheaded lady on your left is the operative from S.O.R.T. I just mentioned...you'll know her by the code-name _Regina_. The agent on your right is her _protegee_ and partner, code-designation _Rain_."

Leon, Sherry and Claire looked at Regina and Rain carefully, but Chris suddenly asked, "Wait a minute! Sir, _they're_ going to join the infiltration, too - ?"

General Earle looked at Chris and said coolly, "Didn't you hear a damn word I said, Redfield? Regina and Rain aren't just here to be a part of this mission! _They're here to make sure you succeed!_"

**TO BE CONTINUED**


End file.
